Saturday 6 August 2022 05:37 PM Biden's Pentagon DENIES DC mayor's request for National Guard to help with ... trends now

President Joe Biden's Pentagon has denied the Washington DC mayor's request for National Guard assistance to deal with the city's growing migrant problem.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey have been shipping thousands of illegal immigrants to the nation's capitol to spread out the burden of a surge in illegal immigration since the president decided to lift a pandemic-era emergency health order that restricted migration on the southern border.

Since April, the Associated Press reports, Abbott has sent at least 5,200 migrants to DC, while Ducey has sent more than 1,000 migrants since May.

Those illegal immigrants often arrive in DC without resources and a place to go, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has said, and is straining the city's ability to deal with its own homeless residents.

She therefore requested last month that the federal National Guard deploy 150 members each day to deal with the crisis, and create a 'suitable federal location' for a mass housing and processing center — suggesting the DC Armory as a potential location.

But on Friday, the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin declined the request, saying troop 'readiness' may be affected if the National Guard were to divert its members to the city.

He also declined to provide the DC Armory to the city to assist with the reception of migrants to the city, claiming that the Department of Defense has determined that FEMA's Emergency Food and Shelter Program has sufficient funds 'at this point to provide migrant assistance.'

Bowser now says her office will submit a more specific request for federal assistance.

She said in a news conference on Friday that the city plans to resubmit 'a more specified request for help' as they continue to work toward making the Armory a processing center.

Bowser also rejected the two Republican governors' assertions that the migrant journeys are voluntary, and are part of an effort to reunite families in the United States.

Instead, she said, the migrants are being 'tricked,' as many do not get close enough to their final destination and are being ditched at Union Station near the US Capitol and the White House.

She then accused the two Republican governors of 'cruel political gamesmanship,' and said they had 'decided to use desperate people to score political points.' 

'We want to continue to work with the Department of Defense so they understand our operational needs and to assure that political considerations are not a part of their decision,' Bowser said.

'We need the National Guard,' Bowser continued. 'If we were a state, I would have already done it.' 

She explained that a coalition of local charitable groups have been working to feed and shelter the migrants, aided by a $1 million grant from FEMA, but the organizers are running out of funds and personnel to deal with the growing problem.

'The reliance on NGOs is not working, and is unsustainable — they are overwhelmed and underfunded,' Bowser said, adding: 'If the federal government is not going to do it, they need to at least give us the resources that we need.'

Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has invited Bowser, as well as New York City Mayor Eric Adams, to the southern border to see the 'humanitarian crisis firsthand,' but Adams declined.

Now, Abbott is sending migrants to the Big Apple as well, with the first busload of Central American migrants awaiting their court date arriving in the city on Friday. 

The group was dropped off at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan after making the almost 2,000-mile trip from the border that lasted days.

A group of charity workers and volunteers greeted the roughly 50 migrants, who were mostly men, before they ventured into the city for

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