The debut of a tent city meant to house immigrants in New York City was met with disdain from Republicans who accused Democrats of “hypocrisy” for housing people in a way they previously decried.
Republicans in Congress railed against Democrats on Wednesday as New York City officials opened the doors of five white tents in a parking lot that is meant to house thousands of immigrants, pointing to how liberals chided the Trump administration only several years earlier.
“Once again liberal hypocrisy rears its head, and no one is calling it out. These are the same people who screamed about ‘tents’ at the border during the last Administration, but now they are doing exactly the same thing,” said Rep. Mayra Flores (R-TX) in a statement to the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. Flores represents a South Texas border district.
New York Rep. John Katko, the leading Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, questioned why Democrats who had bashed federal agencies’ use of tents and tent cities were now marking the creation of one now.
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var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_66038033", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1114740"} }); ","_id":"00000183-f09e-d791-abd3-fedfd6630000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}” data-pm-slice=”0 0 []”>Video Embed“NYC Mayor Adams’ response to the migrant ‘crisis’ in his city is hypocritical at best,” Katko wrote in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner. “Democrats spent the entirety of the Trump administration expressing outrage about the alleged inhumanity of similar tent cities along the border used to house migrants, only to now utilize them to manage the crisis under President Biden’s watch.”
WATCH: WASHINGTON EXAMINER’S ANNA GIARITELLI BREAKS DOWN BIDEN’S ‘QUIET’ PLEA FOR HELP AT THE BORDER
Transporting Migrants-NYC TentsThe new series of giant tents in Queens opened to immigrants Wednesday after being moved from the Bronx. It is meant to serve as a temporary housing project for immigrants who have been bused into the city through a state-funded initiative by Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) and a separate one by the Democratic-run city of El Paso, Texas.
Randall’s Island is on the border of congressional districts represented by Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Carolyn Maloney but technically falls under Maloney’s jurisdiction.
The tent city was moved to Randall’s Island, a mere 2-mile long by 1-mile wide plot of land between Manhattan and Queens. Officials opted to relocate the temporary outdoor complex amid flooding concerns and it not being close to public transportation. The new island location is near New York City’s main jail on Rikers Island, and it is not an area New Yorkers pass through, putting it out of sight of millions of residents.
Pictures of the tents indicate they can hold between 300 and 400 people each, with six-cot rows stretching from one end of a tent to the other. The cots are touching, and there is little space for social distancing as the coronavirus pandemic continues and the United States heads into influenza season.
Transporting Migrants-NYC TentsVenezuelan men are expected to be transported here from the Manhattan bus terminal. They may reside on-site for days or longer as they determine next steps. Families with children are offered rooms in hotels. The influx of immigrants means the city’s homeless shelters are now bursting with more than 63,000 people, CBS reported this week.
Approximately 10,000 to 15,000 immigrants have arrived on buses that originated in Texas since early summer, most of whom are seeking housing and other assistance.
“While progressive politicians love the sound of terms like ‘sanctuary city’ and claim to want these migrants to be able to stay in the country, in reality, their feel-good talking points and policies were never equipped to withstand the devastating humanitarian toll of President Biden’s reckless open borders,” said Katko. “Mayor Adams is seeing a glimpse of what it’s like to be a border community under the Biden administration.”
52214238210_d149cd7cdc_b.jpgWhile pictures of inside the tents show well-lit, temperature-controlled spaces, several televisions, and fabric couches, similar facilities stood up by private contractors during the Trump and Biden administrations quickly fell into chaos once people were admitted.
A massive tent city outside Eagle Pass, Texas, became overwhelmed immediately after opening. Leaked photos from officials inside the facility showed dozens of people crammed into small rooms, people sleeping on the floor in spaces meant for recreation and sports, and people using aluminum “space” blankets for warmth. Media are not allowed inside immigration facilities despite the Biden administration’s vow to be transparent.
81865A11-EE6C-419C-A77B-1075D266C679.jpgThe poorly run facilities led to blowback from Democrats, who opposed the idea of keeping people in tents from the start. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) said in 2018 that only “over my dead body” would Congress provide more money to the government for building more tents to house children who come across the border as they are held in custody as the government searches for an adult to release them to.
Democrats lambasted former President Donald Trump for forcing asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico and reside in tents, as well as when the Trump administration constructed tent cities along the southern border due to a shortage of facility space to detain children and adults during periods in which more people were being apprehended for illegally crossing from Mexico.
Transporting Migrants-NYC Tents“Now that the devastation of President Biden’s self-made border crisis is finally being felt by states other than Texas, perhaps the Democrat-run sanctuary cities will finally join the chorus of Republican lawmakers calling out the Biden Administration’s policies that have encouraged this terrible humanitarian crisis,” said Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) in a statement.
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Flores and Katko echoed Pfluger’s sentiment and called for longer-term changes to address the root problem.
”It’s time these ‘sanctuary cities’ see what we’ve been dealing with in south Texas for years and step up to be part of the solution: immigration reform that starts with Border Security,” said Flores.
Transporting Migrants NYC Tents
