Amid all the outrage coming from the left because of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sending busloads of migrants and illegal immigrants to blue cities, many Democrats have taken to accusing Republicans of cynically using these individuals as “pawns.”
It’s an allegation they have been hurling against conservatives since the Abbott Express began taking these folks to Washington, D.C. in April. Since then, Democrats have struggled to resist showing their hypocrisy on the matter, with mayors of these areas vocally complaining about having to deal with a bunch of brown people showing up in their cities.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D) joined the chorus, referring to the action as “inhumane.”
In a video tweeted by The Hill on Sunday, Durbin acknowledged that the country has a “serious national problem” with the migrant crisis. But he also slammed Republican governors for shuttling migrants and illegals to blue cities.
“There is no question that the governors of Arizona, Florida and Texas are using migrants as pawns in their political campaigns,” the senator said. “There’s just no doubt about it.”
“The fact that they would turn them lose in the city of Chicago, for example, without any warning whatsoever,” Durbin continued. “Families with small children were literally dumped at the train station in Chicago by the governor of Texas.”
.@SenatorDurbin: "The governors of Arizona, Florida and Texas are using migrants as pawns in their political campaigns. […] We have a serious national problem when it comes to immigration. […] Being inhumane […] does not reflect well on the governors." pic.twitter.com/GnLSk76hI1
— The Hill (@thehill) September 18, 2022
This is not the first time Durbin has chimed in on this matter. Last Friday, he slammed Abbott for sending busloads to Chicago and New York City. He called the act “cruel and inhumane.”
Govs. Abbott and DeSantis have repeatedly said they are sending these people to places like Martha’s Vineyard and the home of Vice President Kamala Harris because of the Biden administration’s refusal to take action to solve the migrant crisis.
“The Biden-Harris Administration continues ignoring and denying the historic crisis at our southern border, which has endangered and overwhelmed Texas communities for almost two years,” Abbott said last week. “Our supposed Border Czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, has yet to even visit the border to see firsthand the impact of the open border policies she has helped implement, even going so far as to claim the border is ‘secure.’”
On Friday, DeSantis signaled that Florida would be sending more migrants to blue areas of the country.
“I have $12 million for us to use and so we are going to use it and you’re gonna see more and more. I’m going to make sure that we exhaust all those funds,” he said during a press conference.
Both Abbott and DeSantis have made it clear they have no intention of stopping the Abbott Express until the White House finally decides to do something about the worsening situation at the southern border. But this means that the Democrats’ attacks won’t stop either – at least until they decide they can’t take the influx of migrants and illegals into their neighborhoods. They have already tried erroneously suggesting that the governors are engaging in human trafficking or kidnapping. But now, it appears they are sticking with the “pawn” routine.
But, as usual, Democrats are following that tried-and-true maxim: Always accuse your enemy of that which you are doing.
The left has used illegal immigrants as pawns for years – especially under the Trump administration. They insist that people who wish to secure the border and decrease the number of people sneaking over the southern border are racist xenophobes who don’t want more brown people in the United States. To them, these people have been nothing but political weapons.
Remember in 2018, when Republicans and Democrats in Congress were trying to come to an agreement on the Deferred Actions on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program? After Trump rescinded Barack Obama’s executive order that created the program, both parties were supposedly working towards a way to enshrine it into law.
The problem? Democrats refused to go along with legislation that would have provided immigrants in the program with a pathway to citizenship because Republicans also wanted funding for the wall and other policies designed to secure the border. In essence, Democrats would rather ensure that more illegals can come into the country than provide legal status for those who were brought to the country by their parents when they were minor children.
But before this standoff, Democrats were wailing and gnashing their teeth about the plight of these individuals, who were in the country through no fault of their own. They pretended to care about their welfare, education, and other benefits. But when it came right down to it, they threw them under the bus because they did not want to go along with a Trump initiative.
We are seeing the same exact thing here. Democratic officials, who proudly boasted about their support of immigrants, have shown they want nothing to do with them when looking at them in person. Their love for these people was only meant to be from a distance, not up close. Now that they are being confronted with the consequences of the policies they support, they aren’t so keen on these brown folks, are they?
