When I saw the first reports earlier this year of Texas governor Greg Abbot sending migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico boarder to New York and Washington DC, it reminded me of the controversial CBP Detention Centers they “didn’t see a problem with” in 2018 and 2019. I wrote about it here back in 2019 and on that note.
There is just no ignoring and excusing the fact that as far as these governors and other anti-immigrant lobbyists are concerned, what is going on is both “justified” and “how it should be”. It’s also their Plan B after the controversial CPB Detention Centers were shut down. In their minds, “Since the Dems seem to care about these immigrants so much, we’ll send them to you!”
As has been the case so far, neither Abbott or DeSantis tell the authorities in the destination state and city in advance. They’re reappropriating funds from Biden’s Infrastructure bill to pay for the charter buses and plane tickets for those who may be wondering. “Owning the Libs” is their only concern right now as a reminder. Even more concerning is knowing more Red states will likely start doing this soon.
Abbot and DeSantis both claim they’re doing this because the GOP asserts collectively “Biden/Harris is not trying to do anything to secure the southern boarder.” First of all, there are legit more important things that need to be focused on than posturing and stroking egos. The GOP is once again manufacturing a crisis for the sake of politics. Once again, it will backfire on them hard.
The GOP handed the Dems yet another gift on a silver platter with this stunt but it’s just a matter of weather the Dems know how to use it to their benefit or not. An important first step would be Biden demanding Abbot and DeSantis at least talk to the destination states and cities so they know when and where migrants are coming.
The Dems will not turn away the Migrants. Everyone will be processed and sorted as needed. It would not be hard for the Dems to tell the Migrants “The GOP sent you to us because they don’t like or want you” and just like that, the Dems gain new voters over time.
A third thing we might start seeing over time is naturally, red states will start passing laws that basically discourage immigrants and migrants from moving to their states. At the same time, they’ll start pushing out immigrants, migrants and minorities. Basically, statewide gentrification in almost half the U.S. states.
On a related note. The last few years have seen a real push by some in California to propose the state be split up into as many as six states. The last time a new state was formed via split was West Virginia when the Civil War started. The GOP would LOVE for Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacremento–all Democratic strongholds–to be in separate states.
It would mean GOP voters, who mostly live outside those cities would automatically have majority control in splinter states. Most of California’s population is in Los Angeles and San Francisco in particular. That’s why the map above has the state split up as shown.
It’s similar with a proposal to split Florida in two. All three of Florida’s biggest cities–Miami, Orlando and Tampa–are Democratic strongholds and all three are in the lower part of the state (though Orlando sits right in the middle of where the proposed boarder would be).
The majority of Republicans in Florida live in the northern half of the state. 68% of the state’s population is in the southern half and the overwhelming majority are Hispanic or Democrats. Dems and Republicans would mutually benefit from Florida splitting like this. Although Dems outnumber Republican voters overall, the reason Republicans have maintained majority control of the state is because Republicans always vote in large numbers compared to Democrats. This is true for other red states as well.
The thing about new states being formed however is Congress has to sign off on it. There were some early proposals for California to be split into three states but were quickly rejected due to the obvious gerrymandering implications. Same with a revised proposal to split the state in four. Florida is a little different in comparison and there is growing support locally.
The thing about splitting a state is once it becomes official, it’s not that different from when a territory becomes a U.S. state. You have elections for Governor, State Congress and State Supreme court. Florida does have two Senators so depending on where they live, the new states would need to elect one or two new senators. I’m going to presume the existing state reps would just be split with no number changes overall.
Locally, everyone would need to get a new driver’s license or ID since Florida would become North Florida and South Florida. Talahassee would likely be the capital of North Florida while Tampa or Miami could become the capital of South Florida. I’m not gonna bother trying to theorycraft how that would be for California getting split into 5 states but I know it would be complicated.
Getting back to the original topic. Some historians have drawn comparisons with what was called “Reverse Freedom Riders” in the 1970s to what Abbott and DeSantis are doing now. Back then, some Southern States states decided it would be hilarious to put African Americans on buses and send them to Northern States. Yes, that really happened.
The media is not giving this detail much attention (no surprise) but the majority of these migrants are coming from Venezuela. Yes, the same Venezuela the GOP considers an enemy of America because of its authoritorian government and friendly ties to Russia. The country is obviously a failed state and it’s why people are fleeing in droves, most going to other South American countries or Mexico.
In other words, assylum seekers and refugees you’d think the GOP would want to welcome with open arms. The irony is like Cuban immigrants in Florida, most Venezuelans would align with Republicans politically. Most Cuban Americans fled Fidel Castro’s Communist dictatorship. The first thing Republicans made sure to say to them was “Democratic Party = Communists, Republican Party = Democracy and Freedom”. That was all it took and it worked for the most part. Even most Cuban Democrats are wary of Progressive Democrats like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Oscario-Cortez because of the messaging from the GOP and even some establishment Dems.
All that said. Let’s be real, farmers and vineyard owners in southern states and midwestern states desperately needed those migrants real bad. Emphasis on “desperately needed”. Due to overt racism, the GOP gave the Democrats a pipeline of new voters from the boarder. These refugees will go or stay where there’ll be welcomed weather it’s the Northeast or west coast. All Biden and the Democrats need to do is tell them the truth: The GOP doesn’t want them.
Abbot and DeSantis don’t get it. There’s no way this ends well for both them and the GOP long term and short term. They WILL be held accountable for what is rightfully being called Human Trafficking. If you’re not outraged by these migrants being used as political props by both parties–the Dems share a lot of the blame as well–as a reminder, we went through this almost 20 years ago after Hurricane Katrina.
Back then, it was mostly African Americans being forced to relocate to other parts of the country. They had to leave because unlike most of their White neighbors, they not only didn’t have the money to rebuild but they were not getting money from FEMA either. Lots of Republican governors refused to take them in. Mitt Romney (Republican), who was governor of Massachusetts at the time was one of the first to open their state to those who were displaced. He broke with the party in doing that.
Most Republican states said “Hell no, how do we know most of them are not criminals?” Yes, that was their #1 reason for refusing to take in Americans who had literally just lost everything they had. They didn’t have a problem taking in White people. Just the black and brown ones but they know not to say it plainly. It is what it is.
If you have enjoyed this post or other posts I have made on this blog, please consider making a monetary donation via PayPal. Whatever amount you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Serene Adventure Politics and News 