Corruption, lack of focus, extreme trespassing and neglect of law are commonalities between the fall of Rome and the current immigration crisis. In the last week, one of the nation’s most left-leaning mayors, Eric Adams (D-N.Y.), fell under fire for claiming that the United States’ illegal immigration crisis will “destroy” New York. This statement not only admits a problem in our nation, but solidifies arguments that Republican lawmakers across the nation have been making for the last two and a half years: open borders do not work. The border crisis that President Joe Biden has presented to the nation is a multifaceted issue that not only impacts New Yorkers, but is a humanitarian nightmare and economic strain that significantly amplifies national security threats to the United States.
Since Biden took office, there has been a surge in illegal immigrants crossing the U.S. southern border. So much so, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has released statements with intense wording like, “The state of our border is in crisis,” or “His administration’s policies have eroded deterrence and stripped away enforcement tools.” Accrediting the southern border crisis to Biden’s impotence over federal agencies, whose jobs are to keep the U.S. homeland secure, the recorded undocumented immigrant encounters at the southern border at 2.76 million in 2022 is an extreme issue and worrisome when compared to 2021 records of 1.72 million undocumented immigrant encounters in the region.
However, what is more concerning is that the mayor of a city more than a thousand miles from the Texas-Mexico border feels the effects of the open-border policies. As of Sept. 10, more than 113,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since the beginning of the spring. Further, these numbers only add to the 835,000 known illegal immigrants who have flocked to New York and will drum up a bill of $4.7 billion. This is estimated to be $12.2 billion by next year, but more concerningly, this current expense of migrants in New York’s care is equal to the budgets of New York City’s combined sanitation, parks and fire departments.
The media have scrutinized Governors Greg Abbott (R-Texas) and Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) for bussing immigrants into dem-run cities like New York City, Philadelphia and D.C., but their actions of bussing illegal immigrants around the country is not a partisan issue. They are trying to aid law support by clearing the way for the 3,700 unscheduled daily encounters in their home states. Records indicate that immigrants, regardless of status, have always moved to new places within the United States once they arrived, and this is a large part of why many call New York City home. The city’s rich history has made it a melting pot of many cultures and backgrounds. However, the situation at hand is far from constructive or positive. With migrants causing economic constraints on the city to the point where Adams has asked for federal aid to alleviate the situation, Adams language that admits the crisis is causing issues for the city is backtracking on prior scrutiny of the border state governor’s actions.
With the border crisis crowding New York City classrooms, limiting affordable housing and driving living costs up, the flow of people presents a potential national security threat to our communities and endangers many U.S. citizens.
However, Adams was elected as mayor of New York City — not president, not Homeland Security Advisor and certainly not Homeland Security Secretary. Because of these facts, he should not be cleaning up where others cannot seem to. He should be allowed to focus on issues he campaigned and won on. The crisis at hand only inhibits his ability to act in the best interest of the people of New York City, and he is right to call out injustices where he sees them.
However, the issue is more extensive than Mayor Adams. Speaking on the migrant influx into his city, he said, “Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this.”
It is time for those in the Department of Homeland Security, State Department, Department of Justice and the White House to get a grip on the issues their job descriptions require them to address. The severity of illegal immigration is an issue all Americans west and east of the Mississippi face. If officials in our federal government will not act to secure America now for the sake of this problem snowballing in the future, they must resign so America may be able to return to the pre-invasion state our country was in three, 29 or 33 years ago.
Michael Duke, GSB ’26, is undecided from Scottsdale, Ariz.
