NY Mayor Eric Adams Going to Central America to Meet with Asylum Seekers

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According to insiders, New York City Mayor Eric Adams will visit Central America to meet with migrants during what is thought to be the most dangerous stretch of their journey. Adams will leave on Wednesday to visit Mexico, Colombia, and Ecuador.

On the last day of his trip, he will visit the Darién Gap, a lush, mountainous area that connects Central and South America along the Panama-Colombia border. The region has about 50 miles of wetlands. It is one of the most difficult sections of the route to the US for asylum seekers due to the harsh topography. They must swim, climb, and traverse dense stretches of the rainforest on narrow paths.

According to the mayor's office, the cost of the trip will not be covered by New York City taxpayers. The U.S.-Mexico Foundation, a nonprofit organization made up of business and civic leaders hoping to improve ties between the U.S. and Mexico, will fund the trip there. Adams will cover the costs of the travel to Ecuador and Colombia, according to Kayla Mamelak, a spokeswoman for the mayor.

Adams has previously visited the border to exert pressure on the Biden administration to resolve the migrant problem. The mayor spent a full day in El Paso, Texas, in January. City representatives claimed that they are posting social media messages and handing out brochures near the southern border to discourage immigrants from coming to New York.

According to the advice, the goal of the trip is to “foster relationships, learn more about the path asylum-seekers take to get to the United States, and meet with local and national leaders about the situations on the ground leading to an influx of asylum-seekers arriving in the U.S.”

New York Governor Kathy Hochul supports the sojourn and stated to reporters, “There’s never a downside to gathering more information.”

“[The mayor's] also just trying to get projections on what we can anticipate and what the thought process is, and maybe perhaps to get the word out about the limitations on space and jobs,” Hochul said.