Adams Declares Emergency Over Influx of Migrants; ‘New Yorkers Are Angry’

Mayor Adams rounded on his fellow Democrats Friday over the burgeoning immigration crisis at New York City and the rest of the country, declaring a “state of emergency” amid the growing number of asylum-seekers being bused to America’s largest metropolis from the border. In a speech at City Hall, the mayor said the city is facing what he called a “manufactured” humanitarian crisis because some 17,000 asylum-seeking migrants have been bused up from the border since the spring. New York’s shelter system is near capacity with 61,000 residents, he said, and if present trends continue the city will be housing 100,000 people early next year at a cost of more than $1 billion.“Although our compassion is limitless, our resources are not,” Mr. Adams said. “New Yorkers are angry. I am angry too. We have not asked for this. There was never any agreement to take on the job of supporting thousands of asylum-seekers. This responsibility was simply handed to us without warning as the buses began showing up. There’s no playbook for this, no precedent.”Mr. Adams had planned to set emergency tent shelters to house the migrants at Orchard Beach in the Bronx. When activists pointed out that the location is in a flood zone, the operation was moved to Randalls Island on the East River separating Manhattan from Queens. Immigration activists have complained about that site as well, saying it too is vulnerable to severe weather and difficult to access.In an interview with Politico published Friday, Mr. Adams blames right-wing politicians for “doing the wrong things” and left-wing players for “doing nothing” to solve a crisis that “could undermine our cities in a very real way.” He also blamed the White House for ignoring his pleas for federal assistance.“I think they have been not understanding the full depth of this crisis,” Mr. Adams said of Biden administration officials. “This is a national problem that should not fall on [the cities of] Washington, New York, and Chicago. This is a national problem, and it must have a national solution. And right now I don’t feel we received the level of immediate response that we need.”Much of the blame, Mr. Adams said, lies at the feet of Republican governors such as Greg Abbott in Texas and Doug Ducey in Arizona, who have been spending taxpayer money to bus the immigrants to Democratic-led cities in the Northeast without coordinating with those cities.In reality, Democratic leaders in the city of El Paso have sent more migrants to New York than the much more publicized efforts of the GOP governors. Mr. Abbott has sent about 3,000 migrants to New York and another 900 to Chicago in recent months; El Paso has bused 7,000 migrants to New York and 1,800 to Chicago — albeit in coordination with the receiving cities — since late August.Up to 2,000 immigrants a day have been crossing the border from Juarez to El Paso in recent weeks, many of them impoverished Venezuelans with no family to help finance their onward journeys or assist in their resettlement.Despite making immigration reform a key platform of his 2020 campaign and sending a bill on the topic to Congress on his first day in office, Mr. Biden has been silent on the immigration ever since despite controlling both chambers in Congress. Administration officials are reportedly considering a more aggressive legislative push, but not until after the midterm elections. The Border Patrol said a record-number of immigrants, more than 2 million, were detained at the border in the fiscal year that ended September 30, and another 600,000 so-called “got-aways” evaded capture. Of those detained, the vast majority are released immediately with orders to return for later immigration hearings. There are currently nearly 2 million cases pending before America’s overwhelmed immigration courts.In response to mayor Adams’ pleas on Friday, Mr. Abbott said he would continue sending the buses until the White House commits to addressing the crisis.“ Sanctuary cities like New York City experience a FRACTION of what Texas border communities face every day,” Mr. Abbott said on Twitter. “We’ll continue busing migrants to NYC, DC, & Chicago to relieve our overwhelmed border towns until [President] Biden does his job to secure the border.”

Adams Declares Emergency Over Influx of Migrants; ‘New Yorkers Are Angry’

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