Sanctuary city D.C. mayor says migrant crisis 'certainly not of our making'

Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public emergency on Thursday over the migrants arriving in droves to her city from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The emergency declaration grants Bowser administrative authority not typically held by her office for 15 days, which she will use to create an Office of Migrant Services and allocate resources to assist migrants, reports Fox 5 DC.

"We’re putting in place a framework that would allow us to have a coordinated response with our partners," Bowser said on Thursday.

"This will include a program to meet all buses, and given that most people will move on, our primary focus is to make sure we have a humane, efficient, welcome process that will allow people to move on to their final destination."

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Pete Ducey began sending migrants who arrived at the U.S. southern border to Washington DC’s Union Station in April after months of inaction from the Biden administration.

Their offices report than approximately 9,400 people have been bused to the nation’s capital since they began, according to Fox 5 DC.

Bowser has said that the sanctuary city’s homeless shelters are being overwhelmed with undocumented immigrants, repeatedly referring to the situation as a “humanitarian crisis.”

The mayor also took a shot at federal agencies on Thursday as she declared the crisis was “certainly not of our making.”

"Regardless of the federal response – which I think has been lacking in some respects – that the District of Columbia would continue to work with partners to advance what we need and ensure our systems in D.C. are not broken by a crisis that is certainly not of our making," Bowser added.

The Pentagon has twice denied requests from Bowser to activate the National Guard to assist with the newcomers.

"The [DC National Guard] has no specific experience in or training for this kind of mission or unique skills for providing facility management, feeding, sanitation or ground support," Defense Department executive secretary Kelly Bullinger Holly responded at the time.

Bowser said she plans to submit a request to the DC city council to extend the emergency past its initial 15 days. $10 million has been allocated for the new Office of Migrant Services, which the district hopes will be reimbursed by FEMA.