D.C. Mayor Bowser requests help from National Guard as Texas and Arizona bus migrants to the district

Muriel Bowser, who is the Mayor of Washington D.C., has requested the assistance of the District’s National Guard (DCNG) to stop the “prolonged humanitarian crisis” as more migrants arrival in the nation’s capital seeking asylum.

Bowser said she requested the National Guard as D.C. has reached a “tipping point.” Bowser said that since April, 4,000 migrants have arrived in Washington D.C., though CNN reports that number to be closer to 5,000.

“Our collective response and service efforts have now become overwhelmed,” Bowser wrote. “[O]ur homeless services system is already under great strain; and tragically, many families arrive in Washington, D.C. with nowhere to go, or they remain in limbo seeking onward destinations across the United States.”

“With pledges from Texas and Arizona to continue these abhorrent operations indefinitely, the situation is dire,” the mayor added, “and we consider this a humanitarian crisis – one that could overwhelm our social support network without immediate and sustained federal intervention.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey started bussing migrants to the capital city in protest against President Biden’s immigration policies, specifically his decision to lift Title 42, which was put in place by Donald Trump. Title 42 restricted the number of migrants who could enter the United States.

“To help local officials — because communities are being overwhelmed by hordes of illegal immigrants who are being dropped off by the Biden Administration — Texas is providing charter buses for these illegal immigrants who have been dropped off to Washington, D.C.,” Abbott said

“We are sending them to the United States capital, where the Biden administration will be able to more immediately address the needs of the people that they are allowing to come across our border,” Abbott concluded.

Bowser appeared on CBS’ Face The Nation and discussed the migrant issue.  Bowser said that migrants are “tricked” into coming to D.C. and that this is a “federal issue,” which requires a “federal response.”

Charity activists also hit out at the process. “We don’t see anybody from Mayor Bowser’s office here,” Migrant Solidarity volunteer Isaias Guerrero told the DCist. “We don’t see anybody from the Office of Latino Affairs here to say ‘Welcome, how can we support you’ even if it’s with like waters.”

Guerrero added, “People just want to wash their hands because this is seen as a hot potato. But what it should be seen as is an opportunity for us to actually create a model of being welcoming.”