New York, Mayor Eric Adams of New York has stirred controversy with his stark pronouncement that a surge in migration could “destroy” the city. During a town hall meeting held on the Upper West Side on Wednesday, Adams directed blame not only at the Biden administration for perceived lapses in federal support but also at Republican governors who, he claimed, had transported asylum seekers to the city without proper coordination.
In one of his most pointed statements on the issue of asylum seekers to date, Adams expressed a lack of optimism, stating, “Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City.”
According to Adams, over 110,000 migrants have arrived in New York since the previous year, with Republican governors, particularly Texas Governor Greg Abbott, taking unilateral action to bus asylum seekers to Democratic-led cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, without prior consultation with New York authorities.
“We’ve turned this city around in 20 months,” Mayor Adams asserted. “And then what happened? It started with a madman down in Texas, who decided he wanted to bus people up to New York City: 110,000 migrants.”
Despite the significant influx of migrants, Adams lamented the lack of federal support for New York in addressing this “national crisis.” His prior assertions regarding the absence of adequate federal assistance on immigration had earned him accolades from Republicans.
The surge in arrivals has placed a considerable strain on New York’s social services, which have struggled to accommodate the growing number of migrants. Of the 110,000 migrants who have arrived, more than 50,000 remain in the care of the city. Reports indicate that shelters and other resources have reached their capacity, with roughly 500 migrants arriving daily.
The challenge extends to finding suitable housing for new arrivals, given record-high rent prices and limited eligibility for rental assistance. In recent months, scores of asylum seekers found themselves compelled to sleep on the streets, often in front of Manhattan hotels, as they awaited processing at city-run intake centers. Overcrowded shelters and security concerns have also forced some migrants to sleep outdoors.
Critics, including Murad Awawdeh, the executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, have decried Adams’s remarks as “dangerous” to migrants in the city. Awawdeh emphasized that using divisive language could lead to hazardous situations and urged leaders to communicate in a manner that safeguards lives.
Awawdeh argued that New York’s primary issue centered on housing affordability and a pre-existing shelter crisis, factors that require focused attention to provide permanent housing solutions.
As the discourse surrounding migration and asylum seekers continues to evolve, Mayor Adams’s pronouncements have sparked debate and raised concerns about the broader implications of his statements.
