Migrants Into Storm Eye of US Partisan Fights Amid Midterms

Buses carrying migrants from Republican-led border states continue to arrive in liberal bastions like New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, dragging the U.S. migrant crisis into the eye of the storm of partisan battles ahead of the November midterm elections.

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Texan Warden Arrested After Shooting 2 Migrants Near Border

BORDER TOWN SWAMPED

Eagle Pass, a border town in Texas, has become one of the busiest crossing points along the Rio Grande river that separates the U.S. and Mexico during the fiscal year 2022, which ends on Sept. 30. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, over 2.1 million migrants crossed the border in the first 11 months of fiscal 2022, a record high in U.S. history.

"The crossing of the Darien Gap was especially dangerous. It took me six days to complete. I was so hungry the entire time. Along the way, I saw dead bodies. Some drowned, others collapsed," Luis, a South American migrant, said outside a resource center in San Antonio, which is about two and a half hours away by car from Eagle Pass.

The Darien Gap is the only overland route connecting Central and South America, stretching over sixty miles through forest and swamp. It is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world.

The Darien Gap is the only overland route connecting Central and South America, stretching over sixty miles through forest and swamp. It is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world.

However, this does not mean that migrants are safe once they cross the border into the United States. Late last month, a detention center warden and his twin brother opened fire on a group of migrants who had stopped for water along a farm road near the U.S. border in Texas, killing one and injuring another.

Over 800 migrants died at the border in fiscal year 2022, hitting a record high, NPR reported recently, citing internal government figures shared by a senior Border Patrol official. Many of them died as a result of the extreme heat or drowning. In an interview with CNN, Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber said he finds bodies of migrants almost every day

THRUST INTO SPOTLIGHT

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, whose reelection campaign in 2022 is focused on border security, launched the "busing strategy" in April to protest U.S. President Joe Biden's border policies. He accused the Biden administration of "ignoring and denying the historic crisis at our southern border, which has endangered and overwhelmed Texas communities for almost two years."

Arizona, another border state dominated by Republicans, later joined Texas in migrant busing. Republicans are "playing politics with human beings, using them as props," Biden said, slamming Abbott and other Republican governors over the relocation of migrants last month.

Thousands of migrants have been bused from the southern U.S. border to New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago since April, leaving these Democratic cities scrambling to find adequate shelters for them.

Another Republican, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, chartered two flights to send migrants recruited in San Antonio, Texas, to Martha's Vineyard, a Democrat-dominated rich island in Massachusetts, last month.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency on Friday in response to the unprecedented influx of asylum seekers, following in the footsteps of Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who declared a public emergency and requested the National Guard to assist with the arrival of migrants this summer.

"This is unsustainable. The city is going to run out of funding for other priorities," Adams said, blaming political motivation and lack of coordination for the man-made humanitarian crisis.

"What's happening is very disturbing to a lot of people. It has wasted money for a political stunt for Abbott. He is using these poor people as a political stunt. We need a change here in Texas. We need to turn Texas blue," Juanita Martinez, Democratic Party Chairwoman of Maverick County, Texas, said in Eagle Pass on Monday.

Republicans and Democrats are attempting to highlight their differences on a variety of issues ahead of the November elections, with immigration being a key focus, according to a Pew Research survey released on Thursday, with Democrats' messaging this election cycle resonating more with Latino voters.

As the partisan feud intensifies, immigration will be a key driver in the midterm elections, according to a Wall Street Journal poll released last month, which warned that if Republicans do not show some leadership on the issue, they will allow "a big opportunity to slip away."