WASHINGTON — After nearly two hours of debate Tuesday, the D.C. Council approved a plan by Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) to create a new government office to provide services to asylum seekers bussed from southern states by GOP governors.
Whether D.C. should help the estimated 9,400 migrants who have arrived by buses from Texas and Arizona in the past five months wasn't the issue. Rather, how to help.
Some council members warned of "unintended consequences" that could cut off some District residents from services by differentiating between migrants who are residents of D.C. and those who have recently arrived.
Councilmembers were also concerned about draining finite resources for those experiencing homelessness in the District.
"Let's get to compromise because I don't want the GOP to win here," At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman said she told two of her colleagues. "As District residents, we are all too familiar with being political pawns," she said of the Republican Governors bussing migrants to D.C.
The emergency legislation to create the Office of Migrant Services passed unanimously with one council member voting "present."
The council failed to pass an amendment to Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinot that she said would have made certain qualifying immigrant residents in D.C. would not be excluded from homeless services under the new office among other concerns.
Councilmembers said they would take up this topic again in October to craft a more permanent plan to assist migrants arriving from other states. Currently, councilmembers said in the debate an average of 50 new migrants are arriving by bus to D.C. every day.
Buses carrying asylum seekers and migrants from Texas have begun arriving at Vice President Kamala Harris' residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in D.C. early Thursday morning.
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