Mayors across the country, most of them Democrats, have finally realized that the illegal immigration crisis at the southern U.S. border has a wide-ranging effect on the United States. 

A group of big-city mayors gathered at the White House recently to push for a $5 billion aid package to help cities deal with the influx of illegal immigrants, many of which are bused to various "sanctuary cities" around the country, though it's clear those city leaders are probably having regrets about using that terminology in the past.

The headline of the mayor's summit at the White House is that President Joe Biden, who's responsible for the out-of-control situation at the border, skipped the event, the New York Post reported.

In his place was White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and senior adviser Tom Perez, who met with some of the city leaders.

"To address this crisis"

The mayors, who represent five of America's largest cities, wrote to the president expressing their concerns with the immigration issue moving forward.

"To address this crisis without further delay, we are requesting an urgent meeting with you to directly discuss ways we can work with your administration to avoid large numbers of additional asylum seekers being brought to our cities with little to no coordination, support, or resources," the coalition of mayors wrote.

They added, "We request an appropriation of $5 billion to cover the expenditures our cities have already incurred and to continue serving the growing number of people arriving in our communities."

NEW: @AP obtained a letter sent to President Biden by the mayors of sanctuary cities LA, NYC, Chicago & Denver - requesting $5 billion instead of $1.4 billion to help w/ migrant crisis because “our city budgets & local taxpayers bear the brunt” of the crisis.

They apparently… pic.twitter.com/8UVZxNhDCS

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) November 2, 2023

The mayors behind the effort included Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blew the issue off for the most part, saying at a recent press briefing, "I cannot speak to the $5 billion" requested by the mayors.

Social media reacts

Understandably, the five mayors were mocked and ridiculed across social media for their $5 billion request from the White House.

"If these cities want to be sanctuaries they have to do it on their own dime. They have zero rights to federal funding just because they decided to ignore federal law," one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "Remember when the complained the the WALL would cost too much? These people are liars, frauds, and criminals."

Only time will tell if the president and his administration decide to help the mayors out, but it looks like they've made their own bed at this point.