The Council of the District of Columbia is set to vote on a bill that would approve the creation of a city government office designed to respond to the influx of illegal immigrants being transported to the district from southern border states.
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Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency on Sept. 8, proposing emergency legislation to city lawmakers to create the Office of Migrant Services to meet the needs of those who arrive in the district and facilitate onward travel. The legislation comes in response to more than 8,000 immigrants being bused to the district from Texas and Arizona, creating what Bowser has deemed a “humanitarian crisis.”
DC MAYOR CREATES OFFICE TO RESPOND TO MIGRANT BUSES COMING FROM BORDER STATES
“The influx of migrants into the District creates conditions that, absent the emergency direction of supports and resources, will soon exceed the District government’s capacity to provide appropriate and human care for arriving migrants while maintaining necessary and appropriate levels of human services for District residents, particularly access to shelter and other services for residents experiencing homelessness,” Bowser wrote in her proposal.
The council is set to vote on the legislation during its legislative meeting on Tuesday, with lawmakers expected to pass it.
“We have a rich panoply of services available to D.C. residents who are suffering from homelessness. That system will be quickly overrun if we continue to see bused migrants,” council Chairman Phil Mendelson told reporters on Monday. “And we want absolutely for the migrants to be treated humanely.”
If approved, the Migrant Services Office would provide resources such as shelter, meals, urgent medical needs, transportation to final destinations, resettlement services, and translation services. The office will be funded through a $10 million investment from the district’s government, and the city will seek reimbursement from the federal government, according to the mayor’s office.
The office would build on efforts by the district’s attorney general’s office to provide $150,000 to local nonprofit organizations to help cover the costs of services being offered to immigrants as they await processing in the district. However, some local groups have expressed concerns the bill would limit what resources immigrants can access, blocking them off from services available to the district’s homeless population.
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“The bill explicitly segregates services based on the applicant’s country of origin or how recently they have immigrated and provides a lesser level of services and rights to recent immigrants, explicitly removing the rights and protections that other people without homes are entitled to in D.C.,” said the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless in a statement. “It creates a sub-class of people and provides no assurance of high-quality services to meet their needs. At the same time, it poisons the eligibility process for non-immigrants and immigrants who have been here longer.”
If the legislation goes through the council on Tuesday, which it is expected to do, lawmakers will hold a hearing in October on a permanent version.
