Sometimes the best way to understand why something is going wrong is to look at whatās going right. The asylum seekers from the border arenāt the only outsiders in town. Russiaās 2022 invasion of Ukraine brought a separate influx of displaced people into U.S. cities that quietly assimilated most of them. āWe have at least 30,000 Ukrainian refugees in the city of Chicago, and no one has even noticed,ā Johnson told me in a recent interview.
According to New York officials, of about 30,000 Ukrainians who resettled there, very few ended up in shelters. By contrast, the city has scrambled to open nearly 200 emergency shelters to house asylees from the southwest border.
What ensured the quiet assimilation of displaced Ukrainians? Why has the arrival of asylum seekers from Latin America been so different? And why have some cities managed to weather the so-called crisis without any outcry or political backlash? In interviews with mayors, other municipal officials, nonprofit leaders, and immigration lawyers in several states, I pieced together an answer stemming from two major differences in federal policy. First, the Biden administration admitted the Ukrainians under terms that allowed them to work right away. Second, the feds had a plan for where to place these newcomers. It included coordination with local governments, individual sponsors, and civil-society groups. The Biden administration did not leave Ukrainian newcomers vulnerable to the whims of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who since April 2022 has transported 37,800 migrants to New York City, 31,400 to Chicago, and thousands more to other blue citiesāin a successful bid to push the immigration debate rightward and advance the idea that immigrants are a burden on native-born people.
To call this moment a āmigrant crisisā is to let elected federal officials off the hook. But a ācrisis of politicians kicking the problem down the road until opportunists set it on fireā is hard to fit into a tweet, so weāll have to make do.
Pay them to take care of other immigrants. Tax them on what you pay them.
Itās not that thereās no work, itās that being a cunt to poor immigrants is easier than governing
Not saying itās a bad idea but I donāt think the money is there. Cities are straight up prepping to evict migrants, that strongly implies theyāll be fending for themselves. They need federal aid and the House wonāt approve that.
Without the ability to seek legal tax paying work. We complain about how much these people are costing us while forbidding them to take care of themselves, itās insane and insanely frustrating.
All Iām hearing is āno no no no no no no no noā