As crossings along the southern border have skyrocketed to historic highs, the mayor of one border town has noted a decrease in those legally seeking asylum.
The mayor of McAllen, Javier Villalobos, explained on Inside Texas Politics, “A lot of the asylum seekers, the numbers have gone down drastically for us, from last year 1,500 a day to now maybe 100 plus.”
“And that’s what we deal with,” he continued. “What we don’t deal with is the other immigrants that try to pass illegally. That’s what the border patrol and everybody else is dealing with,”
Villalobos suggested, however, that most of the unlawful border crossing issues McAllen and the southern tip of Texas saw a year ago have shifted up towards Laredo and Eagle Pass.
“So, is it a burden? It is a burden in a sense for us logistically because we have to utilize some of our manpower to assist the federal government with those issues. But right now, we’re fortunate,” he said.
According to the mayor, the people who do cross the border into McAllen rarely intend to stay there but will instead head north to find higher-paying jobs in places like Dallas, Houston, New York, and Chicago.
Facilitating this intention, Gov. Greg Abbott and Mayor Villalobos have instituted programs busing migrants to various places, including self-declared sanctuary cities like Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C.
Referring to the programs, Villalobos explained, “If it’s voluntary and it’s to the general area where they want to go, I’m fine with it.” Continuing to note that, “here in McAllen, that’s what we did too — we bused them or assisted them to go where they want to go. It’s the same thing. So if it’s voluntary, I’m good with it.”
These programs have generally been viewed favorably by the Texas population, and a recent poll conducted by the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation (THPF) and Tegna Texas found that 66% of likely voters “support Texas state and local law enforcement arresting people who cross the border with Mexico illegally.”
The survey additionally suggested that 57% of Texans would support “Texas building a border wall,” and 54% agreed with using taxpayer dollars “to send asylum seekers by bus to Chicago, New York City and Washington, D.C.”
Other polls have indicated similar levels of support. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week shows 66% of likely Texas voters trusted Abbott to handle border issues better than his political opponent, while 51% approved the busing program.
Support for the busing initiatives was divided among Hispanic voters, with 48% supporting it while 51% did not.
