‘New York City deserves better,’ Mayor Eric Adams defies president Joe Biden on immigration, gets GOP support
Top Republicans applaud NYC Mayor Adams for criticizing Biden over immigration crisis. They urge Democrats to pass border security measures.
The growing tension between New York City Mayor Eric Adams and President Joe Biden over the immigration crisis has drawn the attention of top Republicans, who have praised the Democrat for speaking out against the White House.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday that Adams was right to demand better treatment for New York City, which has been overwhelmed by tens of thousands of migrants arriving from the southern border.
“Democrats are finally coming to terms with the reality that the Biden Border Crisis is hurting the country,” McCarthy wrote.
“It has gotten so bad, even the leaders of Democrat strongholds like New York City and Massachusetts are throwing in the towel.”
McCarthy urged New York Senator Chuck Schumer and other Senate Democrats to pass the Secure The Border Act of 2023, a bill proposed by House Republicans that would resume building the border wall and increase border security.
Former Vice President Mike Pence also commended Adams for challenging Biden on immigration. He told WABC 770 AM’s “Cats & Cosby Show” on Monday night, “I’ve got to do a hat tip to the mayor of New York, who’s been willing to call out President Joe Biden and his administration for their absolute failure to secure the southern border.”
But, Adams’ spokesman, Fabien Levy, responded to the Republican compliments by tweeting that they were hypocritical and unhelpful. He said that Trump and Pence had prevented migrants from working and that McCarthy and other Republicans had done nothing in Congress to pass any meaningful immigration reform.
“When given the chance to lead, neither @SpeakerMcCarthy nor @Mike_Pence were anywhere to be found,” Levy wrote.
Adams has repeatedly asked for federal assistance to deal with the humanitarian crisis in his city, which has seen nearly 100,000 migrants arrive since last spring, according to data from City Hall. Some of them were sent there from red states like Texas, which have been eager to make liberal cities feel their pain.
The influx of new arrivals has pushed city homeless shelters to their limits, testing their capacity to accommodate those in need.
Adams has privately criticized the US President for his lack of leadership on the border crisis, and has also publicly expressed his frustration.
In May, the Biden re-election campaign removed Adams from its National Advisory Board following his criticism of the administration's immigration policies.
“It is the irresponsibility of the Republican Party in Washington for refusing to do real immigration reform, and it’s the irresponsibility of the White House for not addressing this problem,” Adams said in May.
Biden has blamed Republicans for blocking his immigration reform bill, which he introduced as his first legislation. He said at a conference with US mayors earlier this year, according to Fox News, “But because of some in the Congress, they refused to consider it. They found it a better issue to campaign on than an issue to solve.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, another Democrat, has also called for more action from Biden to stem the crisis.