New York City mayor Eric Adams is taking Governor Kathy Hochul and President Joe Biden to task for failing to respond to urgent pleas to help the city prepare for the wave of migrants that’s expected to materialize once the pandemic-era Title 42 public-health measure is lifted on Wednesday.
In a letter sent to City Council members on Sunday, Adams accused state and federal leaders of ignoring his requests for additional resources to meet the needs of illegal immigrants who are expected to flood into the city once Title 42, which allows authorities to immediately expel asylum-seekers at the border, is lifted.
“Our requests for assistance have been mostly ignored. And while the New York federal delegation has repeatedly advocated for funding to be sent back to New York City, many in Congress-both Republicans and Democrats-have refused to lift a finger,” Adams wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the New York Post.
“This can’t continue. With the expiration of Title 42 just days away, we need the federal government-both in the administration and in Congress-to share their plans to move asylum seekers to other cities, to allow asylum seekers to work, and to send aid to the cities that have borne the brunt of this crisis,” he continued.
City Hall is now warning that New Yorkers can expect the arrival of as many as 1,000 migrants-a-week despite its existing struggles to accommodate the roughly 30,000 migrants already inundating the state’s overflowing shelter system.
“Please be advised that due to the lifting of Title 42 later this week, the City is expecting a higher amount of asylum seeker buses beginning today with 2 buses today and 10-15 more expected in the next two days,” the letter stated.
Adams said in a statement issued Sunday that the city may have to cut public programs in order to redirect funds to migrant services.
“Our shelter system is full, and we are nearly out of money, staff, and space. Truth be told, if corrective measures are not taken soon, we may very well be forced to cut or curtail programs New Yorkers rely on, and the pathway to house thousands more is uncertain,” the statement read. “These are not choices we want to make, but they may become necessary, and I refuse to be forced to choose new arrivals over current New Yorkers. I’ll say it again — we need a plan, we need assistance, and we need it now.”
The announcement comes on the heels of a similar statement made by El Paso’s Democratic mayor Oscar Leeser who declared a “state of emergency” Saturday in a move the Biden administration has desperately sought to avoid.
“We know that the influx on Wednesday will be incredible . . . we felt it was a proper time today to call a state of emergency,” Leeser stated during a press conference citing the rapidly approaching end of Title 42.
A local Border Patrol agent, Peter Jaquez, said the sector experienced a daily average of roughly 2,500 illegal crossings over the weekend. That number is expected to rapidly rise once Title 42 expires.
A group of Republican attorneys sought a last-ditch effort to prevent the lifting of Title 42 but failed in a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last Friday.