New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) said that his city was “out of room” following the influx of more than 150,000 migrants since 2022. The city has struggled under the weight of the migrant wave, with Adams previously warning that the illegal aliens would “destroy” the city.
The mayor said that the city had “never witnessed this level of migration in this hemisphere.”
He added that the city was currently “inundated” and that the ultimate issue was a “national problem. It’s unfair for local municipalities and cities to handle this problem.”
Adams made the comment this week as New York has had to cut its budget and put up the migrants in a number of facilities. He said that the Big Apple had “never seen this level of migration.”
The mayor also warned that without changes, migrants would soon be “sleeping on the streets.” Photos from the summer captured scenes of migrants sleeping outside awaiting shelter.
The mayor said that the city’s own decision to declare itself a ‘sanctuary’ location made things more difficult. New York previously declared that it would not work with federal law enforcement regarding illegal immigration.
In addition, New York operates under a “right to shelter” law, which was originally passed regarding local homelessness. However, it’s been adapted to aid the large number of migrants who entered the city.
Rogue migrants buses arrive in NYC again, ahead of crackdown on bus companies https://t.co/hDecQ7GA5f pic.twitter.com/ww8VbvScDp
— New York Post (@nypost) December 29, 2023
The mayor said that under the law the city “cannot by law tell someone if they come into the city that they can’t come into the city.” He added that New York cannot contact federal law enforcement under the city’s current policy.
The sentiment was also shared by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who said that the current situation was “untenable and unsustainable.”
The governor said that she believed that migrants entered the state “because of the right to shelter.”
Hochul said that she supported Adams’ current efforts “to get control of the situation to the largest migration of humanity since World War II, and we are the number one destination.” She added that the state could not “house the entire world.”
