New York
CNN
—
Mayor Eric Adams has declared a state of emergency to help address the city’s migrant crisis, which he told reporters on Friday will cost the city $1 billion this fiscal year. .
“We now have a situation where more people are coming to New York than we can immediately accommodate, including families with babies and young children,” Adams said. “Once today’s bus asylum seekers are accommodated, we will surpass the largest number of people in recorded history in our city’s accommodation system.”
The mayor is calling for federal and state aid.
Adams said in September that those responsible were assess how they will react to the influx of migrantsincluding legal options.
“Once we’ve finalized how we’re going to continue to meet our legal and moral obligation, we’ll announce it. Until then, we’re just letting people know what we’re thinking and how we’ll find creative ways to resolve it. this man-made humanitarian crisis,” Adams said at an unrelated event.
A record number of migrants were bused into the city on September 18 – nine in total, the most recorded on a single day in this recent surge, according to two city officials. At least 1,011 asylum seekers arrived Sept. 16-18, according to a third city official.
As of August 9, Texas has spent more than $12 million ferrying migrants to Washington and New York, according to figures from the Texas Division of Emergency Management. As part of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s response to the Biden administration’s immigration policies, the state has flown more than 11,000 migrants to New York, Washington, DC and Chicago since August, the state reported. Abbott’s office in September.
Abbott and other supporters of increased immigration restrictions argue that the Biden administration’s policies have enticed more people to cross the border illegally. Some Republican candidates have pushed the narrative of a migrant invasion ahead of the midterm elections, promising they will do more to crack down on illegal immigration.
The bus campaign has led to clashes between Abbott and Adams, whose administration has accused the governor of using human beings as political pawns and whose city has long been seen as a haven for migrants. The mayor asked the federal government for more resources, including housing assistance. The White House said it is in contact with Adams and is committed to securing FEMA funding and other support.
Adams said he spoke with the mayor of El Paso and told him that New York couldn’t accommodate that many asylum seekers. He said the city has been in contact with Abbott’s office, adding that the Texas governor and his team were not open to communication.
Adams reiterated that New York is still a sanctuary city, but stressed that it was unable to handle such an overwhelming influx of migrants.
“We are not telling anyone that New York can accommodate all the migrants in the city,” the mayor said Monday. “We don’t encourage people to send eight or nine buses a day. That’s not what we do. We say that as a sanctuary city entitled to shelter, we will fulfill that obligation. This is what we do.