WHERE DID WE GO WRONG WITH THE SOUTHERN BORDER?

Our beacon of “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses …” is going dim.

Mayor Eric Adams did the equivalent of yelling at the Biden administration in April for lack of financial support stating, “the national government has turned its back on New York.” He called it an “asylum- seeking crisis.” Other big city mayors are also feeling the pain. DC’s Mayor Muriel Bowser claimed her city, the nation’s capital, was at a “tipping point.” And outgoing Chicago Mayor, Lori Lightfoot, expressing similar frustration, focused her ire at Texas Governor Abbot, asking him to “stop busing migrants to Chicago.” These are compassionate “sanctuary” cities that are typically accommodative but are now pushing back.

Mayor Adams has now taken it further. To alleviate the burden, he has announced that he will begin busing those “asylum seekers” to neighboring counties. In response, Rockland county executive has enacted a state of emergency to ensure no asylum seekers find refuge in his county.

Making bad matters worse, is Title 42, a rule which allows border patrol agents to expel immigrants to their home country is set to expire in a few days - May 11. The federal government is estimating a surge of as many as 13,000 migrants per day into the U.S.

This is a crisis. What is lost in this debacle is the recognition that the strength of our country is in its diversity, that the revitalization of America comes from our immigrant population.

Coincidentally, or because of big cities’ harsh admonishments, President Biden recently responded by sending 1,500 troops to provide aid (essentially to facilitate entry) at the southern border.

I‘m just asking, “Where did we go wrong?”

Written by Derickson K. Lawrence, a resident of Mount Vernon.