Congressman Jamaal Bowman, a radical Democrat, criticized the Biden administration's border policy and specifically asked the president for a show of "leadership" to clean up the illegal immigration crisis in New York:
We need President Biden's leadership, period. We need that leadership right here in New York State because you know, New York State is struggling. We're struggling to provide housing and all the support migrants need. Here's the thing: Democrats look bad right now in New York state, and that's unacceptable when we have to win at least four congressional seats to take back the House. So hopefully the president is listening.
Congressmam @RepBowman spoke to media earlier about the influx of migrants.
Some of his thoughts: “We need leadership from Biden period.” He adds “Democrats in New York are looking bad right now.” pic.twitter.com/fiQa7bZN4v
— Kelly Mena (@KellyMena) August 8, 2023
Bowman is not the only Democrat who has criticized his own party's management of the border. Other influential Democratic officials have voiced their concerns, and even complaints, about Biden's open-door policy on illegals. Among them:
Eric Adams, Mayor of New York City
Voz Media has been told repeatedly that New York City is struggling to keep up with the effect that illegal immigration has on the city. Mayor Eric Adams, who is now one of the biggest critics of the federal administration's immigration policies, went from proclaiming that he would welcome the undocumented "with open arms" to declaring that the federal government "turned its back" on his city.
Adams is one of Biden's main critics when it comes to his immigration policies. A few days ago, he warned that the city was at its "breaking point" and asked the federal government to help deal with the crisis.
Our state and federal partners have heard our cries and shown support, but we need more from them to handle this on the city, state and federal level.
We need help from more municipalities statewide. We need work authorization. We need billions and billions more in funding.
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) August 9, 2023
Maura Healey, Governor of Massachusetts
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said the state has been taking the brunt of the cost of the "federal crisis" caused by illegal immigration which "has been many years in the making." The president recently declared a state of emergency after failing to respond to the needs of immigrants who arrived in the state:
[Massachusetts] It has stepped up to address what sadly has been a federal crisis of inaction that is many years in the making. The increased level of demand is not slowing down. We are unable to move people looking for housing and shelter into permanent housing.
The number of immigrants arriving in the state has skyrocketed. Resources are not enough, so Healey turned to the federal administration for support to alleviate the crisis:
But we can no longer do this alone. We need federal partnership, federal funding, and urgent federal action to meet this moment and to continue to serve some of our most vulnerable families.
Three Arizona officials
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly called Biden's border policies a "disaster." He said he has "stood up to Democrats when they get it wrong on this issue, including the president." He described the president's measures as "foolish":
I've been strong on border security. When the president decided he was going to do something dumb on this and change the rules that would create a bigger crisis, I told him he was wrong. So I pushed back on this administration multiple times.
Kelly called the situation "chaos" and Biden's measures only generate "crisis after crisis": "I've spent a lot of time on our southern border and let me just say it's a mess. It's a chaos. It's crisis after crisis.
The state's governor, Democrat Katie Hobbs, is also a critic of Biden's border management. Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a former Democrat, strongly criticized the administration, claiming that Washington D.C. has "shown little regard for the actual crisis that's occurring in Arizona":
We've paid the price for the federal government's failure to fix our broken immigration system for most of my lifetime.
One of his rivals in the Democratic primary: Robert F. Kennedy
Biden's rival for the Democratic primary, Robert Kennedy Jr., said that it is necessary to "close the borders." In an interview on WABC7, Kennedy argued that minors are the main victims of the "open door policies" put in place by the administration.
The Democratic candidate also pointed out that this situation has caused a "humanitarian crisis" on the southern border due to the constant smuggling of people and drugs that takes place in the area:
We should have closed the borders and we should expand immigration (...) It is not racist or insensitive to say that we need to close our borders and have an orderly immigration policy. I would expand legal immigration to this country that is orderly, that makes sense for our country, but also that our borders are impervious." (...) We have a crisis and we need to close our border.
