The Del Rio area had more than 49,500 migrant encounters in July alone.
The Chamber of Commerce of Martha’s Vineyard said the island was facing a “humanitarian crisis” after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent just 50 migrants to the island this week. Yet more than 24,000 illegal immigrants would need to arrive on the island for it to equally share the burden faced by Del Rio, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Del Rio area had more than 49,500 migrant encounters in July alone — more than the population of the city itself, which has a population of just over 34,500 people. By contrast, the year-round population of Martha’s Vineyard is 17,000 people and the island welcomed just 50 migrants when the “humanitarian crisis” was triggered.
To bring the migrant-to-resident ratio on Martha’s Vineyard into rough parity with that of Del Rio, more than 24,000 migrants would need to arrive on the island over the course of the next month.
Roughly 24 hours after their arrival from San Antonio, Texas, the group of Venezuelans were transported on buses from St. Andrews church in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard to Joint Base Cape Cod.
House Republicans on the Homeland Security Committee tweeted Friday: “If there is a humanitarian crisis in Martha’s Vineyard, wouldn’t it stand to reason there is a drastically more significant humanitarian crisis at the Southwest border?”
Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker said Friday he is deploying up to 125 National Guard members in response to the migrants’ arrival.
“Our Administration has been working across state government to develop a plan to ensure these individuals will have access to the services they need going forward, and Joint Base Cape Cod is well equipped to serve these needs,” the governor said.
The national guardsmen will meet the immigrants at Joint Base Cape Cod on the mainland.
Baker, a moderate Republican, said transporting the migrants to Cape Cod was necessary because “the island communities are not equipped to provide sustainable accommodation, and state officials developed a plan to deliver a comprehensive humanitarian response.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, has sent busloads of illegal immigrants to Washington, D.C., and New York City in recent months to draw attention to the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Abbott said last month that the Lone Star state is “filling the gaps left in Biden’s absence at our border,” as another bus carrying some 50 illegal immigrants arrived in New York City from Texas.
The buses represent just a fraction of the more than 1,500 migrants Abbott has had transported from the southern border in Texas to New York City.
Abbott noted last month that Texas has “made over 19,000 arrests, seized over 335.5M lethal fentanyl doses, & sent over 7,400 migrants on buses to DC and over 1,500 to NYC.”
“While Biden ignores the crisis, Texas steps up,” he added.
Abbott previously said he decided to send busloads of migrants to Washington, D.C., and New York City “because of President Biden’s continued refusal to acknowledge the crisis caused by his open border policies,” saying that “the State of Texas has had to take unprecedented action to keep our communities safe.”