At no point in this country should we have veterans cold, hungry, and alone on the streets of the nation they served to protect. Yet, while this is the greatest nation on Earth, we continue to fail our brothers and sisters who gave us so much.
However, there never seems to be a shortage of shelter, food, and funds for aliens entering this country illegally. And now at-risk veterans are getting the “thanks” of a grateful nation in the form of an eviction notice so that those invading our southern border can get a bed and three squares a day courtesy of the government.
In response to the Biden administration’s non-existent immigration policy and open border philosophy, veterans are forced to pack up from their temporary housing situation with not even a salute so that illegal aliens can take their place.
Thank you for your service; now go away so we can take care of foreigners who have breached our borders.
NY Hotel boots 20 homeless veterans to make room for ‘asylum seeking’ migrants.
Is this really how we treat our veterans? pic.twitter.com/sniZhU59gV
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 15, 2023
Getting Paid
The New York Post broke the story that roughly two dozen homeless veterans were kicked out of hotels in New York to make room for illegal aliens from the southern border. Many of these veterans were Vietnam vets, a generation of forgotten and perpetually ill-treated soldiers that this country has yet to atone for.
These veterans had been put up in these hotels by a nonprofit organization paying $88 per night for each veteran, no doubt the maximum the nonprofit could afford. While the exact rate to house a migrant in a hotel isn’t disclosed, it is known that the city of New York has paid upwards of $190 per night for each room for migrants.
While you shouldn’t be able to put a price tag on a life, it appears our government can, and a veteran’s life is worth $100 less than an illegal immigrant’s life. In addition, the migrants will be housed for up to four months at the city’s expense.
The veterans were only promised one month of housing.
Let me remind you, the city hadn’t ponied up a dime to assist with their situation. These veterans received about two weeks of their one month of promised housing.
Promises kept, promises broken – unfortunately, this isn’t a tune unfamiliar to the American veteran.
$200 Billion to Ukraine, $0 to homeless veterans.
American governance in a nutshell. pic.twitter.com/FGXyU2IyVw
— Jackson Hinkle (@jacksonhinklle) May 13, 2023
By The Numbers
I love numbers and statistics, so let’s take a quick peek at a few to put this situation into perspective. Last month 234,000 migrants attempted to cross our border illegally.
So far, New York City has housed more than 65,000 as City Hall spokesman Fabien Levy boasts:
“New York City has cared for more than 65,000 migrants – sheltering, feeding, and caring for them, and we have done so largely without incident.”
Since the withdrawal from Afghanistan, about 5,000 of the 77,000 Afghans resettled in our country have received legal status. Let’s compare these number to our homeless veterans.
In the United States, there are about 33,000 homeless veterans. According to numbers from 2021, New York City has 990 homeless veterans.
The fact that this country and the Big Apple haven’t figured out how to house a significantly smaller amount of homeless veterans versus refugees and illegal immigrants is not only embarrassing; it’s a disgusting reality of how America views those who serve.
In NYC and across the country, people can’t even imagine evicting homeless veterans to make room for illegal immigrants.
This can not stand.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) May 15, 2023
Misplaced Priorities
At no point should veterans struggling to survive post-service be kicked out of housing arrangements made between establishments and nonprofit organizations in exchange for more federal or state government money to house illegal immigrants. And yet, it’s not just hotels taking in foreigners who have laid siege to our border.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has asked the Biden administration for assistance in housing these migrants by opening up military installations.
She recently laid out her request to the President:
“We’re directly asking the President, we’re asking the Department of Defense to identify installations and other properties and have them start managing them.”
Where was this idea for the veterans who dedicated their lives to these installations? Military installations shouldn’t be used to house those without proper living situations.
Military installations should be used for training and equipping a lethal military force. However, the fact that this proposal is even considered isn’t just laughable; it’s dangerous.
How can we allow illegal immigrants to come here and then have the mayor of a declared sanctuary city have hotels and motels kick out homeless veterans some of who have multiple purple hearts – I cannot reconcile that in my soul nor can I understand how you the American people…
— Robert Davi (@RobertJohnDavi) May 15, 2023
The Unknown
For being the most powerful country in the world, we sure lack the ability to keep our country safe from intruders and unknown dangers. This became chillingly evident during the Afghanistan withdrawal when the truth came out that the Department of Homeland Security lacked the appropriate data to vet the Afghan refugees accurately.
What a ripe opportunity to infiltrate a country the terrorists are determined to destroy. But unfortunately, this same security gap exists with vetting migrants through our border.
Not only do we not know the backgrounds of the thousands of ‘gotaways,’ the ones we can process often come in with violent criminal backgrounds without our knowledge.
The National Border Patrol Council Vice President Art del Cueto explains:
“The system is able to see if you’ve committed a crime in the United States. But if you’ve committed a crime in your own country, your record is going to be squeaky clean here.”
So while homeless veterans who have to go through intensive security screening to be allowed to serve the nation that routinely slaps them in the face get kicked out of their temporary shelters, a violent criminal could be taking their place, at the expense of the American taxpayer.
Please consider subscribing to @codeofvets It is $4.99 monthly. It goes directly to helping at risk/homeless veterans. pic.twitter.com/G2ouCQD6j9
— Code of Vets (@codeofvets) May 14, 2023
Thank You For Your Service?
New York Republican State Assemblyman Brian Maher was appalled to hear homeless veterans were being kicked out of hotels procured for them until something more stable could be arranged to house migrants. He said his office was putting together “care packages” to let the veterans know, “Listen, we are embarrassed by this.”
The care packages contained cards that said, “Thank you” to the veterans. A sweet sentiment that does little to assuage the continuing disgusting treatment of America’s finest.
Our veterans come home from deployments, separate, and retire from service to suffer various unique barriers, including:
Mistreatment at VA centers
Backlog to receive crucial earned benefits from the VA
Difficulty securing viable employment
As if that’s not enough, veterans grapple with distinctive challenges particular to their demographic, including:
Homelessness
Addiction
PTSD
Suicide
Last year, The Political Insider’s Brett Smith sat down with myself and Gretchen Smith, who runs Code of Vets – a non-profit dedicated to helping veterans navigate these difficult issues.
I think most Americans would be surprised at just how bad it is. Watch:
Something is wrong with a nation that takes better care of strangers from other lands who disregard our rules than our people who sacrificed their time and lives to protect us from harm. Don’t give us care packages, don’t write us thank you cards, fix the systems built to help us, and quit treating us less than you treat strangers.
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