NYC Mayor Eric Adams declares state of emergency over influx of migrant buses

On Friday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency in response to the influx of migrants who have been bussed to New York city from Texas and Arizona. 

Adams confirmed at a city hall meeting that over 17,000 migrants have arrived in New York since April. Adams said that 9 buses arrived in New York on Thursday, which is an increase on the 5 or 6 buses that have arrived daily since September.

According to amNY, Adams said that the migrants are putting pressure on New York’s homeless shelters and that he expects to spend up to $1 billion to address the issue.

“New Yorkers are angry,” Adams said. “I am angry too. We have not asked for this. There was never any agreement to take on the job of supporting thousands of asylum seekers.”

Adams went on to say that “The city is going to run out of funding for other priorities. New York City is doing all we can, but we are reaching the outer limit of our ability to help.”

New York’s social services are “being exploited by others for political gain,” he added.

The state of emergency will allow New York’s available agencies to put in place an emergency humanitarian response. The state of emergency has been put in place for 30 days but could be extended if deemed necessary.

Adams said that as part of the response, 42 hotels have been turned into makeshift emergency shelters and 5,500 migrant children have been enrolled in schools.

New Yorkers may also be asked to volunteer to host asylum seekers and the “unhoused” in their homes.

“New Yorkers want to help, and we’re going to make it straightforward and easy for them to do so,” Adams said.

A spokeswoman for Texas Governor Greg Abbott criticized Adams’ state emergency on Friday, saying: “The true emergency is on our nation’s southern border where small Texas border towns are overrun and overwhelmed by hundreds of migrants every single day as the Biden administration dumps them in their communities.”