When Donald Trump was president, Democratic-run cities and states were more than happy to declare themselves "sanctuaries" for illegal immigrants and refugees. Then Joe Biden took office and "solved" the border crisis.
Except he didn't. Obviously.
As border states became overwhelmed by an influx of immigrants, Republican mayors and governors began sending these sanctuary-seeking migrants to the Democratic cities that had promised to provide it.
Suddenly, the same Democrats who once boasted of being so welcoming to immigrants have changed their tune. New York City mayor Eric Adams recently ranted that sending migrants to Manhattan was "unfair" and predicted it would "destroy New York City." Gov. Kathy Hochul (D., N.Y.) said her state has "reached a breaking point."
The Democratic mayors of Chicago and Washington, D.C.—both proud sanctuary cities—have declared states of emergency and asked the federal government for help dealing with an immigration crisis that until recently had been confined to border states hundreds of miles away.
Mayor Michael Hancock said in 2019 that Denver "would be a welcoming city for folks who are seeking asylum." These days he's complaining that the city is "stretched" for resources and needs support from the Biden administration, which has been reluctant to provide it because that would involve acknowledging the problem.