NEW YORK (NewsNation) — It’s a race for resources across some of the largest cities in the U.S. as more migrants are being bused to places including New York and Chicago. Now those cities’ mayors say it’s putting a strain on their ability to shelter and serve the migrants after they get off the bus.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said the city is a victim of its own success. He said the city keeps finding ways to house migrants, so governors from other states keep sending them because they know sanctuary cities such as New York and Chicago won’t turn them away.
However, Adams said it’s an expensive endeavor, and if the federal government doesn’t send relief money, dealing with the migrants could eventually bankrupt the city.
Adams has already declared a state of emergency and asked the federal government for at least $1 billion in emergency funding. Toward the end of the year, the mayor mentioned some city services could be scaled back or eliminated, jeopardized because of the high cost of dealing with the migrant crisis.
Since last spring, the city has seen more than 35,000 migrants arrive seeking asylum. The city has provided housing — officials turned 63 hotels into emergency shelters and provided social services, all of which were taxpayer-funded.
On Tuesday, Adams learned Colorado Gov. Jared Polis plans to send more migrants to New York City.
Polis said he’s busing migrants to larger U.S. cities because about 70 percent of migrants say they do not want to stay in Colorado.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said what Polis is doing is inhumane, and Adams agrees.
Adams said the migrant issue has become a national issue and it requires a national response, and he said it’s embarrassing how the federal government has handled the issue.
“At one time we had to deal with Republican governors sending migrants to New York. Now we’re dealing with Democratic governors sending migrants to New York. This is just unfair,” Adams said. “I’m just blown away that many people are critiquing us. No, critique the people who made this mess that are placing people in this environment.”
The mayor said it’s unacceptable that Polis and a fellow Democrat didn’t even notify him about their plans to send migrants.
