By: John Kurkjian, Julia Cannamela, Rushil Vashee
Migrants stand by the Norwegian Embassy near the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. after being bussed from Texas on Thursday morning. (Marat Sadana/Reuters via Texas Tribune )
Over 100 migrants from Texas arrived in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. following orders by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) Thursday. The move, which was made in retaliation to the Biden administration’s crisis on the United States’ southern border, drew national attention. The migrants, which included several children, were met by local officials and volunteers on the ground with food and clothing, as well as a COVID-19 test.
The move serves as a continuation of his confrontational approach to the slew of undocumented immigrants entering the country. While Massachusetts authorities told BBC that DeSantis’ decision created an “urgent humanitarian situation” in the state, the Florida Gov. responded by saying that the planes “were part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.”
Ananya Amirthalingham, a senior at Georgetown University studying Psychology with minors in Public Health and Chinese, described the potential emotional damage a situation like this could do to migrant families.
“I think that it’s traumatizing for them,” Amirthalingham said. “It sends a message that they’re not welcome. A better route may be to have White House reps go down to Texas to see the situation for themselves.”
Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) sent two busloads full of Venezuelan migrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC on Thursday morning to continue the onslaught of Republican pushback. Abbott, in response to the news, tweeted doubt as to Harris’ claim that the border is secure. “Harris claims our border is secure and denies the crisis. We’re sending migrants to her backyard to call on the Biden administration to do its job and secure the border.”
While Abbott sees mass migration as a full-blown crisis, others see his actions as extremely dangerous. “I think messing with people’s lives like that is unfair. There are better ways to affect other people’s lives to make a point. I think Greg Abbott is a terrorist,” Beau Seguin, 31, said.
On the other hand, Caroline Wilcox, a 20-year-old International Politics major in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, discussed the political implications of how the crisis on the border has negatively affected border states like Texas and Florida.
“The reality is that Florida and Texas are receiving the majority of migrants, and it’s really easy for Northern urban elites to demand that Southerners accept those migrants so they don’t have to deal with the responsibility that a crisis like this entails,” Wilcox said.
