New York Governor: You Know, on Second Thought, Our Border Might Be 'Too Open Right Now'

This is an interesting sound byte for multiple reasons. First, the official Democratic talking point throughout this years-long crisis is that the border is not open, but "closed" and "secure." Just a few weeks ago, the White House Press Secretary insisted that the administration's policies were "stopping the flow" of illegal immigration, and that the president "has done more to secure the border, to deal with this issue of immigration than anybody else." Credulous hacks in the 'news' media have echoed similar propaganda, despite the abject debacle that continues to play out along America's southern boundary.

But here we have a major blue state governor admitting at least some elements of undeniable truth, albeit very belatedly. I say that because just last year, she was blithely calling the enormous influx of illegal immigrants "good for our economy." Times -- or, more accurately, political pressures -- sure seem to be a-changin':

NY Gov. Kathy Hochul Calls for a “Limit On Who Can Come Across the Border”

“It is too open right now. People coming from all over the world are finding their way through simply saying they need asylum and…ending up in the streets of New York.”pic.twitter.com/fcCmQMpUqc
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) October 1, 2023

She calls for limits on who can cross the border, conceding that it's "too open." At the end of the clip, while trying to blame Congress for what's happening (by far, the biggest culprit is Joe Biden and his administration, who refuse to re-implement successful executive-level policies), Hochul seems to endorse 'doubling or quadrupling' the Border Patrol force. She also says that a "majority" of illegal immigrants crossing the border "seem to be ending up in the streets of New York." As Karol Markowicz points out, this isn't anywhere close to true. Since the start of this crisis, approximately 110,000-125,000 migrants have ended up in New York -- cumulatively, over years. In August alone, US officials notched nearly 233,000 encounters at the border, not counting any of the tens of thousands of got-aways. September wasn't just worse; it was the worst ever. "Too open," as Hochul might call it:

New York's full-crisis total amounts to less than half of last month's record-setting encounters. And here comes October. I continue to maintain that Biden's political problem on this issue would be far less acute if Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hadn't made the decision to start shipping a fraction of this crisis to the doorstep of pro-"sanctuary" Democrats, who were content to virtue signal and morally preen while expecting border communities to bear the brunt of the humanitarian and national security disaster their policies have caused. They'd love to be able to ignore it. They can't ignore it now. Abbott continues to put these stats in perspective:

Texas has bused over 15,800 migrants to New York City.

Joe Biden is responsible for the overwhelming majority of migrants here right now.

Americans are waking up to the reality of Biden’s open border policies.

Biden, not Texas, is to blame for this crisis. pic.twitter.com/sFIYwKzs3D
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) September 27, 2023

Texas continues to bus migrants to sanctuary cities to relieve overwhelmed border towns.

Over 12,000 to DC
Over 15,300 to NYC
Over 9,200 to Chicago
Over 3,000 to Philadelphia
Over 1,800 to Denver
Over 650 to LA
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) September 26, 2023

Recall that Chicago's Mayor has offered comments suggesting that he wants more. He and his city should be quickly and dramatically accommodated. Overall, US border officials will tally three million-plus encounters in fiscal year 2023, not counting got-aways. The Biden legacy:

Important note:
This CBP nationwide data does not include September encounters and will easily exceed 3M—2,860,127 without this current month.

The northern and coastal sectors are not included in the border encounter numbers released by @CBP monthly. You have to go find the… https://t.co/HC0ovFEZvV pic.twitter.com/x8YyQX8OhS
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) September 30, 2023

"Too open," eh, Kathy? I'll leave you with this incredible about-face:

NEW YORK GOVERNOR FLIPS ON MIGRANTS

In Dec 2021, NY Gov. Kathy Hochul invited all migrants to come to New York.

She welcomed them with open arms, quoting the welcoming message from the Statue of Liberty touting the state's sanctuary status.

A few days ago, she changed her tune… pic.twitter.com/u3QPN1HkF9
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 1, 2023