Johnson's trip to U.S.-Mexico is smart move
He shouldn't have tipped his hand
A day after New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced he will travel to Ecuador, Columbia and Mexico to tell would-be migrants dissuade themselves of the notion of relocating to his city; Mayor Brandon Johnson shared he is traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border to get a firsthand look at conditions that essentially have blossomed into a crisis here. Neither mayor made mention of the other’s travel plans
At the beginning of this week, one of the Johnson Administration’s immigration team members laid out a simpler plan, which she described as explaining to asylum-seekers how cold Chicago winters are. No mention then was made of the mayor’s travel plans.
The mayor is only fooling himself if he believes he will show up at the border and things will look and feel like they did a week ago or a month ago. There should be little doubt those working with the migrants will do their absolute best to make the area and people look more presentable than ever. It is akin to people cleaning up their houses when they know company is coming. However, what he sees will not be as critical as the fact that Johnson is temporarily escaping Chicago and his detractors and supporters.
Federal officials, up to the President, often use the cover of night to visit locales where the U.S. is in conflict with another country; or sensitive behind-the-scenes talks need to take place; they want the element of surprise working for them. However, Johnson’s “style” leads him to search for any many photo opps as posible; and the pre-trip announcement is just one more.
The mayor probably doesn’t recognize it, but the decision to travel to the Southwest is likely the smartest decision he could make -not just for the migrant situation, but for his tenure as mayor.
The trip will be the first time since taking office in May that Johnson will be away from the pulling-and-tugging from all sides that comes with being a mayor-especially one who is not battleworn. It will also allow him intermittent breaks from some of the minutia that wafts up to City Hall’s fifth floor.
He can put to test the old saw about “a change is as good as a rest.” An honest look at Johnson’s time in office tells us there has not been much, if any time to rest. Now, that he will have that time for a few days, he has the opportunity to ruminate on moving forward on all major matters.
The people he will meet and perspective of others that he receives have the potential to allow him to get a deeper understanding of how the world beyond Cook County works. How he will use them is solely up to him. This firsthand look should translate into him helping the news media understand this crisis in a new way.
His team should be pre-emptive and have all the answers ready to the pedestrian questions from reporters, such as costs, accomodations, and meetings. If he properly conveys what he saw, heard and felt then he will be able to control the asylum-seeker narrative, and not be on the defensive.
He simply has to be smart enough to accep that what he got is far more important than what he went for
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