The Ripple Effects of the Biden Border Crisis Being Felt Nationwide

President Biden now concedes that the situation at the border is “chaotic,” but neither he nor his Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, are prepared to call it a crisis. State and local leaders all across the country are not so reticent, however. From their perspective, the situation qualifies as both chaotic and a full-blown crisis that shows no signs of abating – because Biden and Mayorkas seemingly have no interest in seeing it abate. 

In the week leading up to the end of Title 42, the surge of migrants encountered at the border spiked to more than 10,000 a day. These newly arriving migrants quickly joined the millions of others who have entered the country since President Biden took office, settling in communities that are already reeling from the impact of unprecedent migration. The effects of the border crisis are now disrupting life and commerce all across the country. 

Airports around the country are being snarled by the unexpected flood of migrants looking to board flights in the border towns through which they enter to their preferred destinations across the country. 

• El Paso International Airport has had to bar people without boarding passes from even entering the main terminal to prevent the transportation hub from being turned into a migrant shelter. The airport is only equipped to handle 5,000 passengers per day. The presence of the migrants, in addition to other passengers, simply exceeds the airport’s capacity. Additionally, ticket counters have been inundated by migrants without internet connections looking to buy tickets, or get pricing information about flights. Airlines report that many migrants attempt to pay in cash, but airlines require credit card purchases. The result has been long delays and missed flights for ticketed passengers. 
• Valley International Airport, a small regional airport serving Harlingen, Texas, reports that some migrants attempting to fly out have to wait up to a week for an available seat. While they wait, the migrants sleep in the airport lobby and bathe in the restrooms. 
• O’Hare International Airport in Chicago – the nation’s fourth busiest – is being strained by migrants who are stuck at this important transportation hub. You can fly just about anywhere in the United States from O’Hare, which has led strained airports in Texas and Florida to simply hand migrants one-way tickets to Chicago. Many of the migrants then find themselves stuck at O’Hare, where they remain or join the thousands of others who have been sent to Chicago. Local service agencies report receiving 3,000 calls from homeless migrants at O’Hare seeking shelter. 

Once migrants arrive at their destinations, caring for and sheltering them has turned communities against each other and disrupted everyday life for residents. 

• New York City is running out of luxury hotel space to house migrants – including the iconic Roosevelt Hotel, across the street from Grand Central Terminal. The city began converting public school gyms into migrant shelters. Needless to say, the plan to house unvetted adults in school buildings did not sit well with parents whose children attend those schools. Residents of those communities took to the streets to demand that Mayor Eric Adams open up Gracie Mansion (the city’s official mayoral residence) to accommodate the influx. 
• Meanwhile, Mayor Adams was generating resentment and lawsuits from suburban and upstate communities as he attempted to move migrants to neighboring counties. In a sharp rebuke, suburban Rockland County Executive Ed Day told Mayor Adams that his county “is not going to stand idly by as your administration which boasts itself as a sanctuary city diverts busloads of undocumented individuals to our county.” In another instance, a wedding was disrupted as wedding guests had their hotel rooms canceled. 
• Orange County, New York, went to court to halt the relocation of migrants from New York City. A judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the further transportation of migrants to the upstate county. Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus accused Mayor Adams of acting in bad faith. “New York City, knowing that the case was under review, tried to flood as many buses up here as possible,” he charged. 

Similar disruptions to transportation, education, health care, commerce, affordable housing, and other vital services are playing out all across the country. Nevertheless, the Biden administration remains undeterred in its commitment to maintaining its open border policies.