Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has gone on the media offensive this week, taking to social media and the press to champion Democrats and the Biden administration as the people willing and capable of solving the crisis at the southern U.S. border.
Monday, Newsom visited the California border town of Calexico as well as Mexicali in Baja California to discuss the thousands of migrants who are amassed in Northern Mexico awaiting asylum proceedings or otherwise seeking to gain entry into the United States.
“So we’re here now on the other side in Calexico,” Newsom said in a video shared to Twitter. “And here just to get an understanding and deep understanding of what the world looks like pre-Title 42. It likely is going to look like in a few weeks post-Title 42.”
At the border today.
CA has invested $1B to humanely support migrant communities & secure our border. We can’t do this alone.@POTUS has proposed real reform that will fix our broken immigration system—but @GOPLeader has done nothing but exploit the situation for political gain pic.twitter.com/aI0vKbpGAt
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) December 13, 2022
The governor was referring to the Trump-era policy that allowed the Department of Homeland Security, at the okay of the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to prevent entry to migrants on the grounds of preventing the spread of communicable disease. The policy is due to end on Dec. 21.
“The fact is, what we’ve got right now is not working, and it’s about to break in a post-42 world unless we take some responsibility and ownership,” Newsom said during an interview with ABC News. “I’m saying that as a Democrat. I’m not saying that to point fingers. I’m saying that as a father, I’m saying that as someone that feels responsible for being part of the solution, and I’m trying to do my best here.”
It would be inaccurate to say that Newsom has moved to the center on immigration. His position is that Republicans are making the situation worse by attempting to score political points.
“[President Joe Biden] has proposed real reform that will fix our broken immigration system — but [Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy] has done nothing but exploit the situation for political gain,” Newsom posted on Twitter.
McCarthy did not respond directly to Newsom’s barb. Rather, he continued sharing images of large groups of people entering or bound for the United States.
“There’s been a catastrophic increase in illegal crossings along the border,” McCarthy tweeted. “This crisis could not be more devastating to our sovereignty and security. Biden must enforce and defend Title 42, end catch-and-release, and restore Remain in Mexico. No amnesty.”
There's been a catastrophic increase in illegal crossings along the border. This crisis could not be more devastating to our sovereignty and security.
Biden must enforce and defend Title 42, end catch-and-release, and restore Remain in Mexico. No amnesty. https://t.co/KXzWihnY28
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) December 12, 2022
Newsom might have been kind to Biden in his tweet, but the governor could not deny that — owing to the federal government sending thousands of asylum seekers to California — his state’s resources have become stretched.
“The federal government is sending more and more flights, and more and more buses directly here to California because this state is doing what no other state’s doing and that’s absorbing and protecting and preserving our values and advancing them by doing health care screenings, and taking care of folks,” Newsom said during the ABC interview “and the more we do, the burden is placed disproportionately on us.”
He added, “We’re already at capacity at nine of our sites. We can’t continue to fund all of these sites because of the budgetary pressures now being placed on this state and the offsetting issues that I have to address. The reality is, unless we’re doing what we’re doing, people will end up on the streets.”
Importantly, Newsom did not offer a solution to the problem — although one can easily surmise Newsom would like to, at a minimum, expand humanitarian aid — and he did not indicate in what ways Biden’s border policy would be of assistance.