WASHINGTON — The growing immigration crisis shows no sign of easing in the new year. The numbers at the southern border have been staggering in recent weeks, and Congress is still searching for a compromise.
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The nation saw another record in December on the southern border, and that’s going to put more pressure on the White House and Congress to do something.
December’s numbers show that there were more than 300,000 migrant encounters since the first of the month, which is equivalent to the population of Pittsburgh streaming across the border.
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Republicans are accusing President Biden of not doing enough, and there is a growing bipartisan chorus in Congress calling for Action.
Rep. Tony Gonzales said, “I believe most of America believes in legal immigration. What we are seeing is not that, but this is chaos.”
Rep. Henry Cuellar said, “It’s the pull factor. You’ve got to have detention and deportation.”
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Adding to the pull factors, a new policy in California will offer all illegal immigrants free health care, costing the state more than $3 million a year.
Texas, overwhelmed by the arrivals, is sending immigrants to sanctuary cities, including Chicago, where the mayor said he has had enough.
“Well, what we have is clearly an international and federal crisis that local governments are being asked to subsidize, and this is unsustainable,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
On Capitol Hill, border funding is being tied to aid for Israel and Ukraine with no resolution in sight.
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