Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) says the city has reached a "tipping point" with the large number of immigrants released by Border Patrol and bused to the nation's capital. She said on Thursday she will be calling out the National Guard to help process the endless stream of people who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and turned themselves in to be later released.
The states of Texas and Arizona have been sending buses of immigrants to D.C. on a voluntary basis to help alleviate their border towns as the number of people who have illegally crossed the southern border has been unending since President Joe Biden took office last year.
Calling the number of people arriving in D.C. a "humanitarian crisis," Bowser vowed "to continue to pursue federal involvement" to help the city.
"We need space. We need the federal government to be involved so I've asked the deployment of the Guard as long as we need the Guard to deal with the humanitarian crisis that we expect to escalate. The number of people crossing the border seeking asylum, we expect to only go up," Bowser said.
BREAKING: DC @MayorBowser requests @DCNationalGuard activated indefinitely to help migrant busses arriving in DC. Calling it a “humanitarian crisis” that has reached a “tipping point” with 4,000 migrants so far. Requesting DC Armory be used as processing center. @nbcwashington
— Mark Segraves (@SegravesNBC4) July 28, 2022
Bowser had repeatedly touted Washington, D.C., being a sanctuary city during the Trump administration.
“Washington, DC is a sanctuary city. We protect the rights and humanity of all our residents, and our #DCValues and our local culture are guided by a celebration of diversity and inclusivity." #thread
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) July 18, 2018
See full statement below ?? pic.twitter.com/5a2FcRvVrK