While many Democratic officials are welcoming the busloads of illegal immigrants arriving in their jurisdictions, one mayor said that enough is enough. The mayor of Edison, New Jersey, reported that he is ordering the buses arriving to be sent back to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Mayor Sam Joshi (D) said that he has instructed law enforcement to charter a bus to transport them back to the border, according to WABC.
“The solution for me as the mayor of Edison is not to pawn it off to another mayor,” said Joshi.
Joshi also stated that he was unsure if any of the 40 illegal immigrants arriving were armed.
“They couldn’t be identified, and that is a major problem,” he said. “That’s a major security risk. It’s a health risk. And we’re just not going to tolerate that.”
The decision came after buses arriving from Texas and Louisiana arrived in New Jersey on Monday, where illegal immigrants boarded trains to head to New York City. Last month, Mayor Adams (D) signed an executive order putting restrictions on buses carrying illegal immigrants to the city. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bypassed the order by sending the buses to New Jersey.
As of Tuesday, there was a report of at least 13 buses with illegal immigrants arriving in the state.
Joshi later told Good Day New York Wednesday morning that Edison isn’t financially prepared to take care of migrants. Cities such as Chicago and New York City have been taking a financial hit after having thousands of illegals coming in.
He also went on to explain that he had nothing against immigrants since his parents were immigrants, but his city has no space for them. The city of Edison has a population of 108,000 people and houses several immigrant groups.
“We don’t have the means to address them … [this is] squarely a federal national issue. It should not fall on the laps of myself as mayor or any mayor,” he said.
While Democratic cities are feeling the pressure of taking care of thousands of illegal immigrants, Gov. Abbott went on X to say that Texas had transported over 95,000 of them to sanctuary cities.
Texas has transported over 95,000 migrants to sanctuary cities.
Sanctuary cities like NYC & Chicago have seen only a FRACTION of what overwhelmed Texas border towns face daily.
We will continue our transportation mission until Biden reverses course on his open border policies.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 2, 2024
