Biden administration tries to get El Paso to not declare emergency of influx of illegals

 National Review:

President Biden pressured Democratic El Paso mayor Oscar Leeser to avoid declaring a state of emergency over the influx of illegal immigrants arriving daily, despite several members of the local city council urging otherwise, the New York Post reports.

One councilwoman, Claudia Rodriguez, told the Post that Leeser “told me the White House asked him not to” declare a state of emergency for fear it would make Biden look bad. These sentiments were echoed by fellow Representative Veronica Escobar (D., Texas). during a September 27 council meeting.

“The White House has asked, at this point, for us not to do that and they’ll continue to work with us and continue to give us … money through [the] Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Leeser said during the meeting.

At least three of El Paso’s city councilors have urged Leeser to issue an emergency declaration in a bid to secure more federal funding to deal with the thousands of illegal immigrants who have flooded into the border town this year.

Leeser denies that he’s bending to pressure from the White House. “I don’t bow to pressure from any side,” he told the Post.

However, not everyone in El Paso believes Leeser is immune to pressure from above. Representative Tony Gonzales (R., Texas) denounced Biden for interfering. “It is a sleight of hand what the administration is doing — pressuring the local government to not issue a declaration of emergency, to say as if everything is going OK,” Gonzales said.

The city’s border enforcement efforts have been aided by Title 42 of the federal Public Health Services Act, a pandemic-era policy permitting the immediate expulsion of would-be asylum seekers based on public-health considerations. However, the Biden administration is currently in the process of trying to lift the public-health measure in court. If the administration proves successful, many fear the situation at the border will spiral out of control. Roughly 60 percent of illegal immigrants who have arrived at the El Paso border this year have been turned away due to Title 42, Escobar said.

Thousands of illegal migrants have entered El Paso, which borders Juarez, Mexico, and are putting a strain on local resources such as housing shelters. The border town has only received $2 million in federal reimbursements while spending $8 million to address the crisis so far, according to the city’s website.

In May 2022, the city was forced to release over 100 migrants as both Border Patrol and non-profit shelters had no space for them. Last week, as many as 2,100 migrants crossed the border in one day. For perspective, between April and September 2022 it is believed over 60,000 have crossed the El Paso border, alone.

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Biden's irresponsible border policies are a burden on border communities.  There is little evidence that Biden is interested in stopping the invasion of illegals.