Report: Biden Pressured Democrat Border Mayor Not to Declare Emergency over Illegal I

Report: Biden Pressured Democrat Border Mayor Not to Declare Emergency over Illegal Immigration

by JOHN BINDER 18 Oct 2022

President Joe Biden’s administration reportedly pressured El Paso, Texas, Mayor Oscar Leeser (D) not to declare a state of emergency over illegal immigration, even as thousands arrive in the small city every few days.

According to an exclusive report from the New York Post, El Paso officials privately and publicly say the Biden administration urged Leeser to hold off on calling a state of emergency over the issue of illegal immigration, which has hit historic levels this year.

The Post reports:

At least three of the El Paso City Council’s eight members have urged Mayor Oscar Leeser to issue an emergency declaration in response to the thousands of migrants who’ve filled the city’s shelters and are being housed in local hotels, sources familiar with the matter said. [Emphasis added]

But Leeser admitted during a private phone conversation last month that he’d been directed otherwise by the Biden administration, one of the officials told The Post. [Emphasis added]

“He told me the White House asked him not to,” Council member Claudia Rodriguez said. [Emphasis added]

Last week, about 2,100 border crossers and illegal aliens were arriving every day in El Paso. Since April, the city has seen more than 62,000 border crossers and illegal aliens apprehended. The figure does not include those who successfully evaded Border Patrol.

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) also told the Post that he has heard from officials in the south Texas area that the Biden administration is pressuring them to stay relatively hush about the record-setting illegal immigration issue.

During an El Paso City Council meeting last month, Leeser suggested that Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX), along with the Biden administration, had asked him not to declare a state of emergency.

Biden officials have done the same in non-border cities as well. In August, for instance, reports circulated that the Biden administration was worried about the “optics” of Democrat mayors like Eric Adams of New York City and Muriel Bowser of Washington, DC, complaining about border crossers and illegal aliens arriving on buses to their sanctuary cities.

“The message and the optics aren’t what the White House wants to hear or see from a Democratic mayor,” an official said at the time.

The illegal immigration has become so dire for El Paso that the city has bused, since August, more than 10,000 border crossers and illegal aliens to New York City. Those migrant buses come as Adams has set up a tent city for new arrivals on Randall’s Island.

Report: Biden Pressured Democrat Border Mayor Not to Declare Emergency over Illegal Immigration (breitbart.com)