Photo: Getty Images North America
While addressing the National Rifle Association at a convention in Dallas over the weekend, Texas governor Greg Abbott renewed his pledge to continue busing migrants to New York. Abbott emphasized the overwhelming number of migrants illegally entering the U.S. at his state’s border last year, when he began sending migrants north to sanctuary cities like the Big Apple. Now, one year later, New York City has been overwhelmed by nearly 180,000 arrivals, with more to come, apparently.
How are New Yorkers responding to the news that Abbott is going to send more migrants our way? WOR street reporter Natalie Migliore appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program and found commuters near The Row, one of the midtown hotels turned migrant housing, to get their reaction.
Migliore found one man who didn’t respond well to the news. “That’s not really helping the cause. They’re actually making it worse, ‘cause now you’re allowing them to come up here, then more migrants are coming in through the border, allowing them to feel that it’s okay for us to just come across no matter what, if anybody’s there we’re just gonna overrun them. ‘Cause that’s what it seems like. People are there to protect the borders, but they’re not stopping them. They’re letting them through, right?”
Another man expressed empathy and exhaustion, which, Migliore said, seemed a common sentiment. “The money we make is not enough to either keep us above water, above living means, you know? My rent is expensive. It’s hard to buy food, everything has gone up. Where is my fund? I feel sorry for the migrants, but hey, I need help!”
But Migliore was surprised to find one woman who sees no end to the crisis and summed up her fed-up attitude rather succinctly and politely: “New York City- forgive me for being very honest- is in the dumpster, dear!”
Photo Credit: Getty Images