New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Friday that the illegal immigration crisis under the Biden administration has “destroyed” his city and made an an appeal for federal help to deal with the problem.
Adams made the remarks during a panel discussion hosted by the African American Mayors Association in Washington, D.C., on April 21.
“The city is being destroyed by the migrant crisis,” Adams said.
Adams made the remarks a day after signing an executive order that extended for another five days the state of emergency in New York City related to the influx of illegal immigrants.
“The City now faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that requires it to take extraordinary measures,” Adams said in the order.
Over 55,000 foreigners claiming to be seeking asylum due to the threat of violence and persecution in their home countries have arrived in New York City over the past year, according to City Hall.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said in an April 7 report that the city has had to scale up its shelter provision by over 75 percent due to the influx. As of early March, the city was providing shelter to over 30,900 asylum seekers.
The Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget has estimated the full cost of providing shelter and other services to people claiming refugee status at around $1.4 billion in 2023 and another $2.8 billion the following year.
“New York State and (to a lesser extent) the federal government have begun to offer some assistance, though less than their appropriate share. But even with federal and state support, the current approach is beyond what the City of New York can reasonably sustain,” Lander wrote in the report.
Adams Takes Aim at Biden Admin
Adams on Wednesday criticized President Joe Biden for insufficient federal help to help New York City handle the influx of illegal immigrants.
“The national government has turned its back on New York City,” Adams said during a press conference at City Hall.
“We’re here today telling the White House we have been extremely patient. We’ve allowed the coordination of all of our agencies to come together to deal with this response,” Adams said. “This is in the lap of the president of the United States.”
Adams claimed that most asylum seekers had come to New York to work and support themselves but are prohibited from doing so legally for the first six months of their stay.
“The president of the United States can give us the ability to allow people to work. This is in the lap of the executive branch, and that’s what we’re calling for,” he said.
Adams also expressed concern about the potential lifting of Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allowed for the rapid expulsion of people who had crossed the border illegally.
Lifting of the policy would exacerbate New York City’s migrant crisis, Adams said, warning that “52,000 [asylum seekers] could jump to 100,000 if we don’t get this under control.”
Adams’ administration has proposed measures that include providing access to humanitarian parole for illegal immigrants, including expediting work authorization.
New York officials have said that they’ve received around $8 million from state and federal sources, which pales in comparison to the over $4 billion in related expenses the city is expected to incur through 2024 due to the migrant influx.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Adams’ criticism.
In the face of a surge of illegal immigrants bussed to New York City last fall, Adams in October 2022 issued a state of emergency that he has extended repeatedly as the problem has not been resolved.
In his April 20 executive order, Adams said that thousands of asylum seekers have been arriving in New York City over the past several months, without having any immediate plans for shelter and the city faces an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”
