D.C. mayor requests National Guard's help with the influx of migrants sent from Texas and Arizona

The mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser, requested on Thursday to activate 150 National Guard members to help with the thousands of migrants being bused from Texas and Arizona to the nation’s capital.

According to Bowser, at least 4,000 migrants in 200 buses from Texas and Arizona have arrived in D.C. so far. 

“We need space, and we need the federal government to be involved,” Bowser said at the end of a news conference, adding that the influx of migrants is a “humanitarian crisis that we expect to escalate.”

The request asks the National Guard to aid NGOs and help with migrant transportation. D.C.’s mayor additionally requested that the city’s armory, a multipurpose event venue, be used as a processing center for those arriving.

Bowser’s request comes as thousands of undocumented migrants are being bused from Texas and Arizona to Washington, D.C. as part of a plan to push back against the nation’s immigration policies.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent the first busload of migrants to the U.S. capital on April 8. “What better place for them to go than the steps of the United States Capitol?" Abbott asked at the time.

In a letter that Bowser sent to White House officials on July 22, she calls the influx of migrants a “cruel political gamesmanship from the Governors of Texas and Arizona.”

Last week, D.C.’s mayor said that the city’s homeless shelters were being filled with the migrants that were arriving from the two states.

"Well, this is a very significant issue. We have for sure called on the federal government to work across state lines to prevent people from really being tricked into getting on buses. We think they’re largely asylum seekers who are going to final destinations that are not Washington, D.C. I worked with the White House to make sure that FEMA provided a grant to a local organization that is providing services to folks,” Bowser said during an interview with CBS.

The U.S. has seen an unprecedented number of migrants crossing the border over the last four months, many of which are being released into the U.S. while their cases are being reviewed by authorities. In June, there were 207,000 undocumented immigrants intercepted at the border, compared to 189,000 in June last year.