People were outraged when Florida governor Ron DeSantis bused or flew Venezuelan migrants to Washington, DC and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. However, the number of buses DeSantis dispatched is dwarfed by the 280 buses of refuge seekers that El Paso, Texas has sent to Denver, Albuquerque, Dallas, and other cities. El Paso has a well-established and active Latino community, yet with more than a thousand migrants crossing into the city every day, the city’s budget is buckling, and services for refugees are overwhelmed. Government officials say they are taking the asylum-seekers to cities they choose to go to—and also that the city has no other option.

Those who cross the border into the U.S. see their homelands in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Mexico as wounded places. Residents of border towns in Texas, Arizona, and Florida, trying to cope with an influx of needy people, regard their hometowns as wounded places.

Seeing “both sides” of an issue has become a ludicrous goal in recent years. Often it means that journalists think they have to report not only on reasoned, sensible opinions but also on hysterical, mean-spirited falsehoods. In such instances, there is no “other side.”

But sometimes there is, and the case of refugees and the city of El Paso reminds us to stretch our compassion. As the repercussions of climate change pummel us all, it’s likely that many of us will either be forced to become emigrants ourselves or to welcome emigrants to our communities. We need to foster compassion for those who have the courage to leave everything behind in order to find a safer home—and the frustration of those whose towns and services are incapable of helping so many desperate people.