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When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis started sending asylum-seekers north, it was seen as a political stunt, a way to embarrass the liberal Democrats who run big northern cities and get under their skin. Stunt or not, cities like New York and Chicago have felt the impact of this "strategy" to inflict pain on the targeted cities and using asylum-seekers as pawns. Cynical, but effective.
In Chicago, there are at least 15,000 asylum-seekers who have been thrown into a situation not of their making, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, demands intervention and money from the Biden administration to pay for housing and other needed support services ("Biden's border plan facing a breakdown," Oct. 8). Because Chicago has been unable to cope with the influx of people sent north, there are now about 1,500 people sleeping in police stations. Another 500 or so are stuck in airports, managing however best they can. School has started, but who is getting kids enrolled?
Minneapolis is a short bus ride away from Chicago. Winter is coming. It is just a matter of time before some, likely many, of the asylum-seekers now in Chicago will discover that the Twin Cities is a welcoming, hospitable place for migrants. When someone arrives here needing assistance, will we be ready? It seems to me that it is only a matter of time before the Twin Cities becomes a migration destination for asylum-seekers. What, if anything, have the City Councils of Minneapolis and/or St. Paul drawn up as a blueprint for dealing with potential demands on our local network of resources for housing, food and other social services that an influx of asylum-seekers will bring with them? Is any of this on the radar of the leaders of our two cities? The state? Will we be ahead of the curve or caught out like New York and Chicago have been, where people sleep on cardboard mats, and overwhelmed social services cannot cope?
Josh Gruber, Minneapolis