New York City Mayor Eric Adams has said he does not “see an ending” to the raging migrant crisis and warned that the continuous influx of illegal immigration “will destroy New York City.”
The Democrat mayor, who now infamously styled the Big Apple as a “sanctuary city” is now urging migrants to stay away after more than 110,000 migrants arrived in New York City since last spring and the number of migrants relying on the city for accommodation and subsistence approaches 60,000.
“We’re getting 10,000 migrants a month,” Adams said during a Town Hall meeting on the Upper West Side on Wednesday, warning that public services had become saturated and the crisis showed no signs of subsiding.
“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. I don’t see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City. Destroy New York City,” he told attendees.
“We had a $12 billion deficit that we’re going to have to cut. Every service in this city is going to be impacted. All of us. It’s going to come to your neighborhoods. All of us are going to be impacted by this. I said it last year when we had 15,000. I’m telling you now with 110,000. The city we knew, we’re about to lose. And we’re all in this together,” he added.
His remarks about the dire situation enveloping the city come less than two years after Adams vowed to ensure New York City remained a sanctuary for migrants pursuing the American Dream under his administration. At the time, he slammed conservative-led southern U.S. states on the front line like Texas for implementing restrictive immigration policies.
In recent months, however, Adams has firmly changed his tune. Back in July, the Democrat mayor announced plans to distribute fliers at the U.S.-Mexican border dissuading migrants against heading to the Empire City, explaining that the cost of food and transportation in New York is expensive and that there was “no guarantee” newcomers would have access to housing and social services.
“Please consider another city as you make your decision about where to settle in the U.S.,” the flier read.
On Wednesday, Adams continued his tirade against the 110,000 immigrants the city has adopted in little over a year. “We have to feed, clothe, house, educate the children, wash their laundry sheets, give them everything they need, healthcare,” he said.
As is often the case, Adams’ newly adopted skepticism of President Biden’s liberal immigration policy has been influenced by public opinion as the compassion of ordinary New Yorkers runs out and critics ramp up pressure on their leaders to resolve the unsustainable crisis.
But instead of placing the blame on the White House, Adams chose to berate Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas. Abbott has continued to finance the transportation of illegal migrants flooding into the Lone Star State to Democrat-led states that have often criticized the policies of border states without truly understanding their situation.
“What happened? It started with a madman down in Texas, who decided he wanted to bus people up to New York City,” complained Adams, despite Texas bussing just 13,300 migrants to New York City since August last year, a fraction of the total.
Abbott’s office hit back at the remarks on Thursday, accusing the New York City mayor of “astounding hypocrisy.”
“Mayor Adams was proud to tout his self-described sanctuary city status until Texas began busing migrants to New York City to provide relief to our overrun and overwhelmed border communities,” said Abbott’s press secretary Andrew Mahaleris.
“With millions of residents, New York is only dealing with a fraction of what our small border communities deal with on a day-to-day basis.
“Instead of complaining about 13,000 migrants sent from Texas, Mayor Adams should be calling out his party leader, President Biden, who has been flying planeloads of migrants all around the country and oftentimes in the cover of night, straining state and local resources across the country,” he added.
Conservative politicians across the Atlantic in Europe, where a similar migration crisis is taking place, also responded to Adam’s rant.
British conservative broadcaster Nigel Farage commented in a video posted on his social media accounts. “For years I’ve said we cannot as a country go on accepting countless millions of people. And when it comes to those coming illegally, the cost, the burden, it’s unfair. It’s wrong,” he said.
“The people who believe in open borders, who say we can accept everybody, are increasingly out of touch with where good, common-sense people are,” Farage added.
