What is happening?
For the past five months, Washington D.C. has been receiving buses carrying migrants from southern border states, including Texas and Arizona. Since April 2022, there have been more than 230 buses with over 9,000 migrants arriving to D.C. Texas governor Greg Abbott and Arizona governor Doug Ducey are offering migrants free bus rides to northern Democratic cities, such as Washington D.C., to demonstrate a political statement about what they determine as relaxed Biden administration border policies, pushing responsibility for border crossers to Democrats. The Biden administration immigration policies have differed from the previous Trump administration’s policies. Since taking office in January 2021, the Biden administration has taken efforts to reverse Trump-era restrictions on immigration to the United States. Their proposed steps include; “plans to boost refugee admissions, reserving deportation relief for unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and not enforcing the ‘public charge’ rule that denies green cards to immigrants who might use public benefits like Medicaid”.
Other aspects of the Biden administration’s immigration proposal include allowing more new immigrants into the United States and giving a pathway to citizenship to undocumented immigrants who are already in the country. Southern border states’ governors disapprove of the Biden administration’s policies, thus are sending migrants out of their state.
Throughout the past couple of months, the responses from the different cities receiving migrants differ. On Thursday, September 8th, the Mayor of D.C., Muriel E. Bowser declared a 15-day public emergency because of the migrant buses that were entering the city. Within the 15-day period for the public emergency, Mayor Bowser looked to the federal government to lead the response to migrants in Washington, D.C. and through an emergency bill created a new government office that will work with migrants. The new government office created, the Office of Migrant Services, exists to provide migrants “who are in the city temporarily with short-term support including food, clothing, legal services and shelter, helping relieve the burden on local nonprofit organizations that have thus far handled most of the response.” The Bowser administration’s response to the issue has been met with criticism from volunteers who are involved. Volunteers criticized the Bowser administration for not initiating responsibility for the issue and not adequately supporting the migrants who are staying in D.C. There are also criticisms that the proposed bill for the Office of Migrant Services is too broad, and would prevent migrants from establishing residency in the United States.
What No Lost Generation GW stands for
At the moment there is some contention to what is deemed as an appropriate response to address migrants coming into Washington, D.C. We at No Lost Generation at The George Washington University(NLG GW) stand with the migrants entering the United States and are saddened by the mistreatment they are experiencing throughout this process. NLG GW is dedicated to supporting those affected by the global refugee and migrant crisis. Government officials across the United States, whether it is at the federal, state, or municipal levels, should respond to the needs of migrants and be involved with volunteering efforts that are working to support them. Migrants and asylum seekers entering the United States are not going to stop, and as a result there should be pathways to allow for safer and more humane immigration and migration.
How Can We Support Incoming Migrants?
To support migrants and asylum seekers who are in Washington D.C., we can look towards the four pillars of NLG GW: fundraising, volunteering, education, and advocacy.
Fundraising
Here are some direct crowdfunding opportunities to donate to help migrants who are arriving or arrived on buses:
Volunteering
Here are some places that are looking for volunteers to help migrants who are arriving on buses:
Volunteer with SAMU First Response
Volunteers need to have medical experience or training
Education
Here are some accounts to keep up to date about the situation:
Follow for Updates on the Washington Post
Advocacy
Here are some bills to follow and call to action to participate in: