Last December, there were nearly 250,000 encounters with migrants, the highest number on record. According to U.S. Border Patrol data, the number of migrant encounters was much higher compared to the previous peak of about 224,000 encounters in May 2022. The state of Texas is the most exposed to immigration because of its long border with Mexico, but a recent report finds a dramatic decrease in illegal border crossings at one of the busiest spots, which became the focus of the nationwide debate over illegal immigration.
Migrants overwhelm California southern cities
Since Texas improved border security by implementing various, sometimes controversial, measures, migrants now choose California as their entry point, overwhelming southern cities and areas. These areas face a lot of challenges in handling the influx of migrants and providing essential services for free, paid for by taxpayers. Many cities are requesting financial assistance from the state and federal government, while hospitals are overflowing with injured migrants seeking medical help due to falls from the border wall.
Thousands of migrants are getting into the country in California
According to recent data shared by the Daily Mail, there have been just under 7,000 migrant encounters in just seven days since the start of April in San Diego, another proof of the worsening border crisis in California. The number of encounters is the same as most of the other sectors see in a whole month. However, the most concerning aspect is that the figure solely reflects the migrants apprehended by border officials, excluding those who successfully entered the country unnoticed. “Unfortunately, I’m not surprised,” San Diego County Commissioner Jim Desmond told the Daily Mail on Thursday.
The Californian dream
As a deep blue state led by Democrats for a very long time, California provides many free services to migrants, even undocumented ones. Since this year, the state has provided free healthcare, and they are also slated to receive free legal services, according to a recent bill. Illegal immigrants in California can also apply for housing programs like the California Dream for All Shared Appreciation Loans program, under which they can receive a loan that doesn’t grow bigger over time for buying a house.
Democrats continue to defend migrants and their impact
Recently, California Rep. Robert Garcia, speaking to MSNBC’s “The Last Word”, said that because we’ve lumped immigration in with border security, we can’t think of immigration as an economic necessity because it’s viewed as a security issue. Garcia defends immigration as a crucial part of American economy’s growth.
The question
Host Ali Velshi said, “Congressman, I’m always — I’m concerned about, in this country, we have, accidentally or otherwise, decided to treat immigration as a security threat, as opposed to an economic matter. We’ve done this — immigration falls under the Department of Homeland Security, which I’ve always thought, I understand why it was done after 9/11, but it feels like it was actually a mistake. Most other countries think of immigration as an economic imperative, and they think about security at their borders as a separate matter. We’ve lumped the two together, and now it becomes impossible for Americans to think about it as an economic imperative that it is, because we think about it as a security matter.”
Garcia’s response
“That’s right. First, immigration is a net positive in this country. It always has been. Immigrants, as we know what — look at the economy, immigrants contribute so much to our national economy, to our local economies in all of our states across the country. Immigrants are getting educated, going back, you have folks that are completing graduate degrees, folks from other countries that are here contributing, everything from folks that are going to college, to the folks that are out there, paving our cement, our streets, our roads, our bridges, there are so [many] contributions,” Garcia said.
“We know that the only way our economy can work is with immigrants, and oftentimes, it’s immigrant labor that many other folks don’t want to do. And so, this idea that we’re going to somehow shut off immigration, that we’re going to go back on our values is wrong. And Donald Trump is the leader of this rhetoric. And he has convinced so many Republicans that used to have a little bit more respect for immigrants, a little bit more understanding of the contributions. This is not the party of Ronald Reagan, of George Bush, of so many others that at least understood those contributions. He has a warped reality, his rhetoric is racist against immigrants, his rhetoric is xenophobic, and he needs and his campaign, need to be stopped,” he added.
