The immigration crisis is a recurring theme in the political debate in the United States. In December 2021, we discussed the Central American Triangle immigrant crisis. In April 2022, we discussed about easing rules on the border with Mexico. Also, that month, we discussed the privilege given to Ukrainian immigrants over Latinos camped out in Mexican border towns. In many other analyses, we deal with how the issue of immigration has embarrassed Democrats, especially for not fulfilling their promises made in the 2020 election, in addition to boosting the anti-immigration discourse of the Republican Party, which claims that the Biden administration opened the country open to crime due to the allegedly indiscriminate entry of people across the Southern border.

This issue still divides American politics. The most recent controversy is related to the transfer of illegal immigrants from Texas to Washington (DC) and New York. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is funding buses to move newcomers to the two Democratic-ruled cities. Abbott's action is part of Operation Lone Star, which mobilizes human and financial resources for Texas to organize its strategy to block immigration. The new policy was announced on April 6, 2022. According to ABC NEWS: “Abbott has ordered state troops to begin stopping and inspecting commercial vehicles crossing the US-Mexico border and said bus charters will be offered to bring immigrants to Washington, D.C., in a provocation to President Joe Biden and Congress. Texas officials also said they would begin "increased military activity" at the southern border and install barbed wire in some low waters along the river to prevent migrants from crossing. (…) the latest orders further push the boundaries of a multibillion-dollar Texas border security mission that the two-term Republican governor, who is running for re-election in November, has made the cornerstone of his administration. Texas has already deployed thousands of soldiers, and National Guard members installed a new border barrier and arrested thousands of immigrants on trespassing charges.” In a post on Twitter, Abbott stated, “While Biden continues to FAIL in America with his open border policies, Texas is taking UNPRECEDENTED steps to protect our state and country: Enhanced vehicle inspections @ points of entry; Charter buses to send illegal immigrants to DC; Boat blockades. More to come.”

As a result of this policy, the City of Washington (DC), according to CNN, received more than five thousand immigrants by the end of July. Mayor Muriel Bowser is asking for help from the DC National Guard to help with migrants sent by bus from Texas and the conversion of federal buildings at the DC Armory, Joint Base Bolling, or Fort McNair into processing centers for migrants. According to the order, the regional reception center established to help migrants in Montgomery County, Maryland, would already be at total capacity.

The same report carries a statement by the Texas government press officer, Renae Eze, urging the mayor of Washington as follows: “Washington, DC, finally understands what Texans are dealing with every day, as our communities are overrun and overwhelmed by thousands of illegal immigrants thanks to President Biden's open border policies. If the mayor wants a solution to this crisis, she must ask President Biden to take immediate steps to secure the border – something he has failed to do.”.

On August 5, Greg Abbott's attacks turned against New York City when the first bus with illegal immigrants arrived from Texas with 55 people from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, and Venezuela. That day, he published a note taunting New York Mayor Eric Adams with the following terms: Because of President Biden’s continued refusal to acknowledge the crisis caused by his open border policies, the State of Texas has had to take unprecedented action to keep our communities safe," said Governor Abbott. "In addition to Washington, D.C., New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city. I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief.”

On August 7, Adams reacted to the Texas governor's action, according to Gothamist: This is horrific when you think about what [Abbot] is doing. New York is a city that has always represented democratic values. Showing our values. That’s what we’re doing today. It is unimaginable what the governor of Texas has done. When you think about this country, a country that has always been open to those who are fleeing persecution and other intolerable conditions. We’ve always welcomed that. And this governor is not doing that in Texas. But we are going to set the right message and the right tone of being here for these families.”

On August 26, another note from the Texas government presented an assessment of Operation Lone Star and the strategy to move immigrants to other cities: “Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to more than 297,200 migrant apprehensions and more than 19,000 criminal arrests, with more than 16,400 felony charges reported. In the fight against fentanyl, DPS has seized over 335.5 million lethal doses during this border mission. Texas has also bused over 7,400 migrants to our nation's capital since April and over 1,500 migrants to New York City since August 5. The busing mission is providing much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities. Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration's refusal to secure the border. Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden's open border policies.”

Despite the political dispute between Democrats and Republicans, it must be considered that mass immigration tends to cause inconvenience to the local population. According to Bloomberg, only in the period September from 2021 to June 2022, more than 600,000 people tried to cross the border illegally. It is worth considering that this number does not count those who managed to enter illegally with the support of criminal networks. In this regard, we record the incident involving 51 people who died inside the body of a truck while trying to enter Texas.

It is also necessary to consider that amid the immigration of poor people seeking a better life, the border flow also harbors many illegal activities, such as human trafficking, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, etc. The endemic violence afflicts Mexico due to drug cartels spilling over to the United States, not only because of the vast consumer market for synthetic drugs or cocaine coming from South America but also because of the numerous activities intertwined, such as those mentioned above. One must consider the actions of the “maras,” street gangs formed in Los Angeles and other US cities by Salvadoran immigrants (but also involving Hondurans) who established roots in their countries of origin.

From the point of view of the inhabitants of the cities located along the border with Mexico, the feeling of insecurity tends to increase as the activities of gangs and cartels that operate in the region increase. The feeling of insecurity has always been used politically by right-wing parties, such as Governor Greg Abbott. He is heading for quiet re-election over Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke, according to projections from the website FiveThirtyEight.

The newspaper linked to tycoon Rupert Murdoch, The New York Post, seeks to create an evironment of apprehension by relating the activities of Mexican cartels to the opioid epidemic that is ravaging the United States. In this manipulation of fear, they even include China, as follows: “Fentanyl is largely being produced by the Sinaloa Cartel, which was controlled by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman before he was sentenced to life in prison in Brooklyn federal court for murder and drug trafficking in 2019. Unlike cocaine or marijuana, the synthetic opioid is relatively cheap to manufacture, with Mexican labs operating around the clock and using precursor chemicals imported from China, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.”

As absurd as it may seem to use people as pawns on the political board, Greg Abbott's strategy is widely supported by his Republican supporters, to the point that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis considered adopting a similar process of dispatching illegal immigrants to cities ruled by Democrats. He even asked the state legislature for a $12 million grant to pay for bus travel. The logic is the same: to arouse the feeling of fear in the local populations due to uncontrolled immigration.

DeSantis' idea was put aside because his lieutenant governor, Jeanette Nuñez, admitted to the idea of sending illegal Cuban immigrants to Delaware (Joe Biden's home state) during an interview with Rádio Actualidad 1040 AM held on Friday, 19 of August. When asked about the recent wave of immigrants coming to Florida from Cuba, Nuñez said the DeSantis administration would take a hard line. In a state where the Cuban American community carries enormous political and economic weight, the news was met with outrage. The deputy governor even issued a note to rectify her position: “It was a general discussion about illegal immigration not directed at Cuban migrants fleeing the dictatorial regime. I think I know that best, as the daughter of Cuban immigrants.”

The governor of Florida stated that he would not send immigrants to other states as, in his view, Texas was doing this job very well, and there would not be many people to dispatch. According to him: ““Texas is taking people. Biden has not sent anyone to us since we got that. He does send children all across the country in the middle of the night and dumps them all over the United States, which I think is very reckless. We have not had buses coming in, we have had people trickle in. I think because of what Texas has done, that has actually taken a lot of pressure off us.”.”

It is important to consider that Ron DeSantis articulates his presidential candidacy for the Republican Party and challenges former President Donald Trump. In addition to the issue of illegal immigration, he defends the restriction of abortion, the end of the so-called “gender ideology,” and the teaching of “critical race theory.” He is enthusiastic about the culture war initiated by the US extreme right. From now until the 2024 presidential elections, the issue of immigration will not leave the partisan debates—a problematic situation for thousands of people who will become pawns in the US political chess.

P.S. As we were completing this review, Reuters reported that Greg Abbott had sent a bus with 60 people to the city of Chicago on August 31. In a provocative tone, Abbott said: "Mayor Lightfoot loves to publicize her city's responsibility to welcome everyone, regardless of legal status. I look forward to seeing that responsibility in action."

Following Abbott's announcement, Mayor Lori Lightfoot's spokesperson Ryan Johnson confirmed on Twitter that about five dozen immigrants had been sent to Chicago from Texas. And he remarked, "Chicago is a welcoming city and as such has collaborated with various departments and agencies to ensure that we welcome them with dignity and respect."