On the eve of the annual Army-Navy football game, Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) — who served in the U.S. military for 23 years, including as a company commander in Kuwait and Iraq — fired off a letter to President Biden because of reports that military families hoping to attend the game could not book reservations at local hotels as they were being used to house illegal immigrants, and some reservations had been canceled for that reason.
In early October, CBS News reported that three hotels owned by Giri Hotel Management, according to travel agent Mark Mansbach, were working with the state of Massachusetts to house illegal immigrants. “His clients’ previously booked hotel rooms were canceled to continue the lease with the state. Mansbach said at least 70 of his reservations were impacted,” CBS News reported.
“Your border policies are failing, and it is abundantly clear change is needed,” Ernst wrote Biden. “Your failed policies are directly harming military families. … As you may know, this is an event for which ‘tens of thousands of veterans will pour into the greater Boston area’ hoping to celebrate America’s Game.”
“It’s clear: these cancellations are due to your administration’s decision to ship illegal immigrants across the country to sanctuary cities at taxpayers’ expense,” she continued.
“The Army-Navy Game is not a trivial thing,” she declared. “It fosters esprit de corps between American military families, potential future servicemembers, and the Armed Forces. This is an imperative when the military is faced with the worst recruiting crisis in decades, in part driven by your politicization of it.”
“Of the five Defense Department service branches, only two met their active-duty enlisted recruiting goals for fiscal [year] 2023 — the Marine Corps and the Space Force, by far the smallest services with the lightest recruiting burden,” she noted. “What’s more, military families attending the game often use it to interest their children in a career in the Armed Services.”
“Not only is this game a recruitment mechanism, those of us who have served know it is truly an opportunity to showcase America’s finest—the incredible young servicemembers who have stepped forward to serve their country—the Corps of Cadets and Brigade of Midshipmen,” she continued. “The Army-Navy Game gives attendees—many of whom are veterans themselves—the opportunity to honor the next generation of our fighting men and women, as well as our nation.”
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“It is flatly unacceptable for our veterans and military families to be displaced because of your administration’s failure to secure our southern border. Military families who have scrimped and saved to be able to afford a trip to the Army-Navy game should not have to compete with illegal immigrants for hotel room space,” she concluded.