5 US big cities seek help for migrant surge

While mayors from five US big cities are requesting the federal government to provide $5 billion to deal with the migrant surge, the Texas Senate approved $1.5 billion for border wall construction and policing a subdivision suspected of housing undocumented migrants.

At the end of October, mayors from Denver, Chicago, New York, Houston and Los Angeles wrote to President Joe Biden to seek a meeting with him to discuss the surging number of migrants arriving in those cities. It has been reported that the mayors are seeking $5 billion to deal with the issue.

Biden have asked Congress for $14 billion to hire more border agents, install new inspection machines to detect fentanyl and increase staffing to process asylum cases as part of the $105 billion package including aid to Israel and Ukraine.

Of which, only $1.4 billion would be set for local government to provide shelter and services to migrants. That amount is far short of what is needed, the letter from the mayors indicated.

"Right now, Denver is spending almost $2 million a week on shelter, New York City has surpassed $1.7 billion in spending and Chicago has spent over $320 million," the letter stated. "We request an appropriation of $5 billion to cover the expenditures our cities have already incurred and to continue serving the growing number of people arriving in our communities."

Last week, the White House set up a meeting with the mayors to discuss how to manage an increasing number of migrants. However, Biden himself didn't attend the meeting. White House chief of staff Jeff Zients and Homeland Security Department officials talked to Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

New York Mayor Eric Adams terminated his attendance and returned to New York after the FBI initiated an investigation of his campaign fundraiser. The other two mayors couldn't make it due to the short notice.

"I had a good series of conversations," Denver Mayor Johnston, who led the coalition, said. "I think we shared our sense of urgency, and we shared this belief that we need funding, but really what we want is a longer-term solution."

The letter said that more than 75 percent of the migrants currently in their shelters won't be eligible for work under the current policy. Those who are eligible and have applied for Employment Authorization Documents have to wait for six months or longer to get processed because USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) lacks the capacity to process applications in a timely manner.

The mayors ask the federal government to issue work permit to those migrants within 30 days of their arrival to reduce the migrants' reliance on public support and provide the much-needed labors to businesses.

In fiscal year 2023 ending on Sept 30, the number of migrant encounters at the US-Mexico border reached a record high of 2.47 million, surpassing the previous record of 2.37 million in 2022. This number doesn't include legal entries along the border.

Many pointed out that gang violence, political instability, and economic shock have contributed to the inflow of migrants. While single adult males remain the largest group among migrants, the number of families has increased by 10 percent in 2023 to account for more than 33 percent in 2023, according to a government data.

While the federal government is still working on funding, the Texas Senate approved a bill – SB 6 -- to give Governor Greg Abbott $1.5 billion to continue to erect a border wall along the Texas-Mexico border and to pay for state troopers to have a presence at Colony Ridge, a suburb subdivision about 40 miles northeast of Houston that is said to be a magnet for criminal activities of illegal migrants by the right-wing media. The bill has yet to be approved by the House.

Texas has already issued a $1.5 billion contract to build 40 miles of border wall along the 1,200-mile-long Texas-Mexico border since September 2021. So far, only 10 miles have been erected, according to the Texas Tribune.

Most of this additional $1.5 billion would continue for border wall building. About $40 million will be used to police Colony Ridge, a residential subdivision of 33,000 acres and home to some 40,000 people.

The area is a tight-knit community of primarily Hispanic families, many of whom work in construction, landscaping and housecleaning. Some local law enforcement believe that most residents are undocumented immigrants from Latin America; some are American-born Latinos.

However, far-right media have described Colony Ridge as a crime-ridden, poverty-stricken settlement of illegal aliens, and the description has expanded from the far-right fringe of American politics into the GOP mainstream.

Agencies contributed to this story.