CNN host Kasie Hunt argued on the network Thursday that Republican governors’ strategy of sending migrants to blue sanctuary cities “has worked” to highlight the immigration crisis and put pressure on President Biden.
Hunt’s comments come as Biden faces increased demands from beleaguered Democratic mayors to address the border.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston held a virtual press conference this week asking Biden to declare a national emergency and provide additional funding to their cities, which have been overwhelmed by the surge in migrants.
“Yeah, I mean, that right there is the problem that Joe Biden has, right, in a nutshell,” Hunt responded to the mayors’ comments.
CHICAGO MAYOR ON MIGRANT CRISIS: ‘ENTIRE COUNTRY IS NOW AT STAKE’ WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT ASSISTANCE FROM BIDEN
CNN panel discussed Biden’s record low approval numbers amid the president facing pressure to address the border crisis. (CNN/Screenshot)
Democrats had long dismissed Republican concerns about the border as “alarmist,” she said, but they are now seeing how the crisis “has gotten worse, not better.”
“And, frankly, the strategy that these red state governors have had of sending a lot of these migrants up to blue states has worked from a political perspective. And it is very, very hard for these cities to absorb them. And, you know, the Biden team, I think, knows that, or they wouldn’t be willing to make these concessions in these policy negotiations that they’re having with Capitol Hill,” the anchor argued.
However, Hunt suggested Republicans may not want to negotiate a deal on the border so the problem could continue to be blamed on Biden heading into the election year.
“The cynical, political way of looking at it might be to say, well, maybe Republicans don’t want to let them do it, because they prefer this continue to be a problem for them in the 2024 election,” she said.
DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER RIPS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FOR IGNORING BORDER CITIES: ‘PRESIDENT IS NOT DOING ENOUGH’
Democratic mayors renewed calls for President Biden to address the border crisis this week. (Fox News illustration)
A recent Monmouth University Poll showed only 26% of Americans approve of how Biden has handled the border.
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has angered Democratic leaders by bussing and flying migrants to sanctuary cities in the past two years to show the impact of illegal immigration.
Abbott has said the operation provides “vital relief” to border towns and has promised to keep doing it “until Biden secures the border.”
The Biden administration has defended its actions in helping cities navigate the migrant crisis.
“This year, the Biden-Harris Administration, in collaboration with the states and cities across the country, launched a one-stop-shop work authorization and Temporary Protected Status clinics to help eligible non-citizens get work permits and decompress the respective shelter systems. To date, these clinics have served approximately 10,000 individuals and thanks to USCIS’ efforts, the median processing time for work permit applications is 30 days,” a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
“President Biden is committed to addressing this problem, that’s why he submitted a supplemental funding request to Congress which includes additional resources to secure the border with more law enforcement, more grant funding for jurisdictions hosting migrants, and funding to accelerate the processing of work permits for eligible noncitizens,” the spokesperson said.
Migrants depart from Tapachula, Mexico, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023. The caravan started the trek north through Mexico just days before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Mexico City to discuss new agreements to control the surge of migrants seeking entry into the United States. ((AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente))
Top Biden administration officials met with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador this week to discuss the crisis.
In a statement afterward, the Biden officials said they discussed the benefits of “regularizing” illegal immigrants living in the U.S., which sparked an uproar from House Republicans.
“At a time when America is experiencing the worst border crisis in our nation’s history, it is unconscionable to hear the Biden Administration’s announcement that Secretaries Mayorkas and Blinken discussed with the President of Mexico amnesty for illegal immigrants,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday.
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A migrant caravan numbering thousands from Central and South America is currently making its way through Mexico to the United States.
Fox News’ Lawrence Richard, Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.