Xinhua News Agency, Houston, October 9 (Reporter Xu Jianmei) Immigration buses from the U.S. Republican Party dominance state to the Democratic city have frequently made headlines recently. Following the capital Washington, DC, New York City has also declared a state of emergency recently, citing that the number of immigrants transferred from the southern border area in the past few months exceeded the local response capacity.
is approaching the US midterm elections, and the latest poll shows that immigration is one of the most serious issues in the opposition between the Democratic and Republican voters. On the surface, the Republican , people protesting the Biden administration's immigration policy, but in fact, what American politicians really care about is never the interests of immigrants or the demands of voters, but their own votes. The immigration on the bus is just another prop in the "political show" of the American party struggle.
This is a vehicle for transferring immigration filmed in San Antonio, Texas, USA on September 30. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Nick Wagner)
Immigration surged
In the fiscal year 2022 ended on September 30, the United States intercepted more than 2.1 million cross-border immigrants in the first 11 months, setting a record high.
In San Antonio, Texas, Louis, an immigrant from Venezuela, told Xinhua News Agency reporters that he had trekked seven months before reaching the U.S.-Mexico border, and had passed through large swamps and forests along the way. "This section of the road is very dangerous. I have been hungry and have seen corpses many times along the way."
The shadow of death covers the road of these immigrants, and even if they enter the United States, they may not be able to escape from the danger. In June this year in San Antonio , 53 immigrants were suffocated to death in a large truck. In late September, 22-year-old Mexican farm worker Sepulveda Martinez crossed the border for the third time. He was shot and killed by a guard who drove by a federal immigration prison while drinking water on a rural road in the west of Texas.
Compared with the past, this wave of immigration has shown some new characteristics: First, the source has changed: the United States' severe sanctions on Cuba , Nicaragua and Venezuela have exacerbated the local people's livelihood dilemma, resulting in a surge in the number of immigrants from these three countries. Second, the number of people is large: U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows that in the 2022 fiscal year, not only did the number of migrants intercepted in a single month and the first 11 months set a record, but the number of repeated crossings also reached the highest level since 2015. Third, there are many deaths: Texas Public Radio quoted internal data revealed by border law enforcement officials, saying that more than 800 migrants died in the border area in fiscal 2022, setting another sad record.
On June 27, in San Antonio, Texas, USA, people gathered near the scene of the truck tragedy. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Nick Wagner)
political show
analysts pointed out that after the global financial crisis in 2008, the trend of populist with xenophobic characteristics accelerated its spread in the United States. In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has further hit the U.S. economy and people's livelihood. Against this background, the anti-immigration sentiment of some Americans, especially Republican voters, has increased, making the immigration issue one of the focus of the bipartisan struggle.
The influx of large numbers of immigrants has brought heavy security and economic pressure to U.S. border towns. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that President Biden "don't come to the border to inspect the chaos he created, Texas will send the border to him," allowing Democratic cities to experience the feeling of the influx of immigrants. From April to mid-September, Texas used buses to send more than 13,000 immigrants to New York City, Washington, DC, and Chicago. Arizona, which is also dominated by the Republican Party, also took similar actions.
These immigrant buses have a strong "political show" color. In the past three weeks, buses from Texas have repeatedly transported immigrants to the neighborhood of the U.S. Vice President Harris mansion in Washington, DC. Although Florida does not border Mexico , Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis chartered a flight from Texas to send dozens of immigrants to the resort of Democratic celebrities, a favorite of Massès Vineyard Island .After getting off the plane, the immigrant, who was kept in the dark, found that he had no place to stay or work, and in anger he sued DeSantis in court.
Faced with the influx of immigrants, the Democratic city was clamoring to be unable to bear it. Washington City Mayor Mullill Bowser called for the use of National Guard in September, saying that the city's affordability has reached its limit. New York City had to build temporary facilities such as tents to resettle immigrants, but was sued by nearby residents. Chicago transferred Texas buses to downtown train stations to suburbs.
On September 30, in San Antonio, Texas, USA, immigrants lined up to board the transfer vehicle. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Nick Wagner)
party competition props
In the face of the immigration wave, Republican governors and Democratic mayors both admitted that the US immigration system was fragmented and needed reform, but no one could come up with a good solution to the problem. They just blame each other and fight each other to gain political chips for themselves.
White House and Democrats accused Republican border states of disrespect for immigration and used them as political gimmicks and campaign tools. Biden publicly condemned Republicans for doing so in midterm election year, "using people to play political games and treating them as props" and does not help solve the immigration problem.
Texas Governor Abbott wrote a letter to the mayors of New York City and Washington, D.C., inviting them to come to the US-Mexico border to see the "severe situation" there. He said border states had to resettle large numbers of immigrants, but lacked sufficient funds. Right-wing media have mocked Democrats for their "hypocrisy", saying that these "Democratic elites" will show a "high attitude" only when immigrants stay in border states. Once immigrants flock to the Democratic cities, these elites immediately lost their calmness.
Analysts pointed out that the Federal Supreme Court overturned the "Roy v. Wade" ruling in June this year and canceled the protection of women's abortion rights in the US Constitution, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among some voters, thus boosting Biden's support rate and reviving the Democratic Party's election situation. Under this circumstance, Republicans used the "immigration card" as a "heavy weapon" to curb the rising momentum of the Democratic Party's election situation, and directed the "political show" of the immigration bus.
Recent polls show that in Texas, border security has surpassed combating crime and curbing inflation, becoming the most concerned issue for voters. Throughout the United States, most voters prefer the Republican stance when it comes to dealing with immigration and fighting crime. One Republican even said on social platforms that Republicans in both Houses of Congress should thank the immigration bus for "save the election."
can be seen that in the minds of many American politicians, the most important thing is not immigration or voters, but voters. For their own political interests, they would do whatever they could even use immigration as props to intensify the division of the United States.
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