For months, US Republicans have been setting an example in the dispute over immigration policy with provocative actions: migrants are taken to democratically governed places in buses. Florida’s governor is now taking the strategy one step further.
WASHINGTON – In the dispute over immigration policy in the United States, Republican governors are expanding their tactics of bringing migrants to democratic parts of the country.
On the island of Martha’s Vineyard in the state of Massachusetts, which is known as a posh resort, several dozen migrants surprisingly arrived by plane on Wednesday (local time). The Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, had people brought there, as his office announced in a statement distributed by several US media. Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Thursday had two buses full of migrants brought near the residence of US Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington to attract public attention.
Protest against migration policy
In the spring, Abbott and his Republican counterpart from Arizona, Doug Ducey, began busing migrants from the border areas to the Democratic-governed cities of Washington, New York and Chicago in protest at the migration policy of US President Joe Biden’s administration. More than 9,000 migrants have reportedly arrived in Washington alone. The Democratic Mayor of the US capital, Muriel Bowser, recently declared a state of emergency in view of the arriving migrant buses in order to get support from the federal government.
On Thursday, Abbott chose a special place to drop off migrants from his state in Washington: the immediate vicinity of the official residence of the US Vice President, who has been given the task of combating the causes of flight and curbing illegal migration. Harris denies the crisis and claims the US border is secure, Abbott wrote on Twitter on Thursday: “We are sending migrants to their backyard to ask the Biden administration to do their job and secure the border.”
DeSantis has now taken his counterparts’ idea a step further by using planes instead of buses and by choosing a small holiday island instead of a large city, which normally only has about 15,000 inhabitants, but thousands of visitors are added in the summer.
The statement from DeSantis’ office said that states such as Massachusetts or New York would take better care of the migrants. They “invited” people to come to the US by incentivizing illegal migration and supporting Biden’s “open borders policy.”
Martha’s Vineyard is a popular vacation spot for prominent Democrats
Although Massachusetts has a Republican governor, it is otherwise considered a democratic state, which is also represented in the Senate by two Democrats. Martha’s Vineyard in particular is known as a popular vacation spot for prominent Democrats, including the families of former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. The Obamas have owned a luxury beachfront villa on the island for a few years. Other celebrities and the wealthy also have homes there or spend vacations on the island.
Local Democratic MP Dylan Fernandes wrote on Twitter that the community immediately arranged beds, meals and medical care for the migrants.
He sharply criticized the Republicans’ actions: “Republicans, who call themselves Christians, have planned for some time to use human lives – men, women and children – as political pawns. It’s evil and inhuman.” Fernandes accused DeSantis of only wanting to make “cheap political points” with the action. That was “corrupted”.
The White House strongly condemned the actions of the Republican governors. Biden’s spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, called her actions “disgraceful,” “reckless,” and “just plain wrong.” It is a cold, deliberate political stunt. The governors used families and children as political leverage. “It’s inhuman,” she said. “It’s cruel.”
DeSantis is considered a possible Republican presidential candidate and currently the biggest internal party competitor for ex-President Donald Trump, who has been fueling speculation for weeks that he could run for a second term in 2024. DeSantis is also in the midst of campaigning for another term as governor, like Greg Abbott in Texas. Both will stand for re-election in November.
congressional election in November
In the US congressional election on November 8, halfway through Biden’s term, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and about a third of the seats in the Senate will be up for grabs. There are also gubernatorial elections in many states.
The issue of migration has been one of the most bitter points of contention between Democrats and Republicans for years. Trump had taken a particularly tough course in migration policy during his tenure and tried in a variety of ways to make immigration more difficult. The construction of a wall on the border with Mexico was the most prominent example. In addition, there were countless tightening measures to keep asylum seekers – but also other immigrants – away. Biden took a fundamentally different course when he took office. dpa