Republican governors in the southern United States are debating the deportation of illegal immigrants to northern Democrats.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one of the leading contenders following Texas Governor Greg Abbott, recently chartered about 50 illegal immigrants from Venezuela to Marthas Vineyard, a wealthy resort town in Massachusetts, sparking controversy.
Ahead of the November midterm elections, major Democrats have been criticizing the Republican governors’ position as a protest against the Joe Biden administration’s immigration and border policies and to highlight the issue of illegal immigration.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, said in an interview with CNN on the 18th (local time) that “we need to make it clear that this is a humanitarian crisis created by human hands.”.
“We have to work together,” Adams said.
According to the state of Texas, more than 2,500 illegal immigrants have been transferred from Texas to New York City so far.
In response, Mayor Adams denounced Abbott and DeSantis as “exemplifying fundamental human rights violations by treating people in an inhuman way.”
Some migrants who arrived in New York were dehydrated or not provided with adequate food, Mayor Adams said, as the state of Texas sent confirmed COVID-19 patients on the same bus as other immigrants. He added: “Some of the immigrants had tags attached to them like animals.”
Senate Democrat Minority Leader Dick Durbin (Illinois) also criticized Republican governors in an interview with NBC on the same day.
“It’s pathetic that [Republican] governors took advantage of powerless people,” Durbin said, noting that they torture illegal immigrants for political purposes.
He then emphasized that the issue of illegal immigration “may pose a political risk” to the Democratic Party ahead of the midterm elections, but that this issue must be resolved.
Earlier, President Biden said to DeSantis and Governor Abbott on the 15th, “What they are doing is wrong and it is not American.”
Republicans defended DeSantis and Governor Abbott, reaffirming their position that the problem of illegal immigration was caused by the federal government.
Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Republic of Korea, told CNN that the governors are “doing their best to inform people about the hardships of those crossing the southern border.” “Governors are letting them know that this is unacceptable and that it is an issue that cannot be addressed at the state level,” he said.