NewsRescue
During a press conference in El Paso on Sunday, New York Mayor Eric Adams declared that there is “no room” for illegal immigrants in the city, pleading with President Joe Biden’s administration to address the “national emergency” at the Mexican border.
“Now is the time for the national government to do its job,” the mayor said, referring to the unprecedented migrant crisis under Biden.
Adams called it “unfair” for cities like New York and Chicago to have to house so many migrants and urged FEMA to oversee a nationwide “coordinated response.”
Adams also stated on Friday that “the absence of much-needed federal immigration reform should not mean that this humanitarian crisis falls solely on the shoulders of cities.”
He urged the White House to combat misinformation that he claimed was giving many migrants a “false impression” of the conditions in New York. Websites claiming that “basically the streets are paved with gold,” that everyone gets “automatic employment,” and that “you’re going to be living in a hotel” must be countered with “accurate information,” he said.
The mayor visited the border in El Paso just days after announcing budget cuts for every city agency and warning that the migrant influx could cost New York up to $2 billion. Adams had already asked New York Governor Kathy Hochul for emergency assistance last week, claiming that the city had reached “breaking point” with 3,100 illegal immigrants arriving in a single week and 40,000 arriving since last spring.
Resentment has grown among native New Yorkers as the mayor slashes budgets for critical services, which he admits may have an impact on the city’s public safety. Homelessness has reached epidemic proportions, despite the fact that affordable housing was already in short supply before the migrants arrived.
Adams may have exacerbated the crisis by telling El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser in September that New York would welcome the surplus migrants from the border city. However, the city’s government quickly became overwhelmed by the influx, declaring a state of emergency in October and pleading with the White House for $1 billion in federal aid, which it has so far refused to commit.