NYC Mayor Eric Adams ‘baffled’ by lack of federal response to migrant crisis: ‘This issue will destroy New York City’

New York City's Mayor Eric Adams seeks federal aid amid a burgeoning migrant crisis, proposing a bold strategy to distribute migrants across the country

New York City is facing a migrant crisis that has overwhelmed its shelter system and strained its budget. Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly asked the Biden administration and the federal government for help, but he says they have failed to respond.

Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a press conference at City Hall in New York, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Peter K. Afriyie)(AP)

Adams said in a Sunday interview that he was “baffled” by the lack of action from his fellow Democrats in Washington, who have ignored his in-person pleas for assistance. He said the migrant problem was not only affecting New York, but also other cities across the country.

“I find it baffling because now you are hearing the coalitions that started with Eric, now it has gone to Chicago, Massachusetts, Denver… so many municipalities are joining me and saying this is impacting our city, so I’m not sure why we’re not seeing a response,” Adams told ABC 7.

‘This issue will destroy New York City,’ Eric Adams

Adams, once considered a rising star in the party, said he had a solution that the Democrats have ‘underestimated’. He said if he was president, he would implement a “real decompression strategy” that would distribute migrants from the border to different parts of the country and give them three years to settle down.

“We tell them, Here’s where you’re going to go for a three-year period to stabilize yourself.”

“This way, instead of having 140,000 coming here or a thousand coming to Chicago, we’re spreading it out throughout the entire country,” he added.

Adams argued that this would benefit both the migrants and the communities that host them.

“We have 108,000 towns, villages, cities across America. In my view, many people are dealing with population issues, employment issues and they want migrants and asylum seekers that can work because we are a city and a country of immigrants.”

Senate seems slow to address this issue

Meanwhile, the Senate has delayed its holiday recess to work on a package that could address the immigration issue, which Congress has neglected for decades. The package would include funding for border security and foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, also from New York, said on Thursday that the talks had made ‘good progress’. One of the proposals being considered is to limit the number of asylum seekers at the southern border to 5,000 per day.

However, the package faces opposition from both ends of the political spectrum in the House. Conservative Republicans will reject it for not being tough enough on immigration and for supporting Ukraine aid. Progressive Democrats will oppose it for restricting asylum rights.

In New York, Adams has taken some measures to cope with the migrant influx, which has reached over 140,000 since last year. He has imposed a 30-day limit for single adults in temporary shelters. He has also announced a $110.5 billion budget, which includes cuts to all departments, including the NYPD, which will lose 13.5 percent of its officers.

Adams has warned that the migrant crisis will ‘destroy New York City’ if not resolved soon.

“I don’t see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City,” Adams said in September.

He has estimated that the city will spend $12 billion over the next three years to provide shelter, hotel rooms, and services for the migrants.