New York
CNN
—
Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency to help deal with the city’s immigration crisis, telling reporters on Friday that the city will lose $1 billion this fiscal year.
“We’re now in a situation where more people are arriving in New York City than we can immediately accommodate, including families with infants and young children,” Adams said. “Once the asylum seekers on the bus today are sheltered, we will Exceeds the highest number of people recorded in the history of our city’s shelter system.”
The mayor called for emergency federal and state aid to deal with the influx of asylum seekers.
Adams’ statement will direct all relevant city agencies to coordinate efforts to respond to the humanitarian crisis and build the city’s humanitarian emergency response and relief center. The mayor said the state of emergency would last for 30 days and could be extended.
According to the mayor, New York City now has more than 61,000 people in its shelter system, including thousands of homeless people and thousands of asylum seekers who have taken public rides from other parts of the country in recent months. car. Since April, more than 17,000 asylum seekers have been sent to New York City from the southern border, he said.
As of the first week of October, Texas has spent more than $18 million sending immigrants (which have been processed and released by immigration authorities in Texas border communities) to Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the plan in April as part of his response to the Biden administration’s immigration policies, acknowledging that taxpayers could pay for it.
New York City’s shelter system is operating at nearly 100 percent capacity, Adams said. The city expects to spend at least $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year to deal with the influx of immigrants, the mayor said, adding that if asylum seekers continue to enter the city at the current rate, the total population within the shelter system will exceed 20 percent by the end of the year. 100,000 people.
Adams said 42 hotels have been set up as emergency shelters and 5,500 migrant children have been enrolled.
The city is also exploring a potential program for New Yorkers to volunteer to host asylum seekers and the “homeless” in their homes.
“New Yorkers want to help, and we’ll make it easy for them to do so,” the mayor said.
Adams said in September that officials were evaluating how they would deal with the influx of immigrants, including legal options.
“Once we have finalized how we will continue to meet our legal and ethical obligations, we will announce it. Until then, we will just let people know what we are thinking and how we will find creative ways to address this man-made Humanitarian crisis,” Adams said at an unrelated event.
On Sept. 18, there were record numbers of immigrants — nine in all, the most in a single day of the recent wave, according to two city officials. At least 1,011 asylum seekers arrived between September 16 and September 18, according to a third city official.
The Abbott office announced in September that Texas had transported more than 11,000 immigrants to New York City, Washington, D.C. and Chicago since August.
Abbott and others in favor of increased immigration restrictions argue that the Biden administration’s policies have created an incentive for more people to cross the border illegally. As the midterm elections loom, some Republican candidates have pushed the immigrant invasion narrative, promising they will do more to crack down on illegal immigration.
The bus movement led to a feud between Abbott and Adams, whose administration has accused the governor of using humans as political pawns, and whose city has long been considered a refuge for immigrants. The mayor has asked the federal government for more resources, including housing assistance. The White House said it was in touch with Adams and pledged FEMA funding and other support.
Adams said he had spoken to the mayor of El Paso and told him that New York City could not accommodate so many asylum seekers. He said the city has been in touch with Abbott’s office, adding that the Texas governor and his team have not yet been open to communication.
Adams reiterated that New York City remains a sanctuary city, but stressed that it cannot handle such an influx of immigrants.
“We’re not telling anyone that New York can accommodate all the immigrants 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’re doing. We’re saying, as a sanctuary city that has the right to sanctuary, we’re going to fulfill that obligation. That’s what we’re doing.”