"No End to the Flow" - Mayor Adams on Migrants Arriving in New York City

Photo byMetin OzeronUnsplash

The federal government has neglected the nation's immigration system for decades, and this year's issue has affected all five boroughs in significant ways.
More than 150,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since the spring of 2022, and the Adams administration established more than 200 shelters throughout the boroughs to house the influx.

Adams and other members of his administration have insisted that the situation will cost the city upwards of $12 billion in the future years, even though more than half of those migrants have left city care.

The mayor has been pleading with President Joe Biden's administration and Washington to give the city greater assistance during the crisis, but his requests have largely gone unanswered.

“I don’t see an end to this flow if we don’t have real changes in Washington D.C.,” Adams said Tuesday. “It’s a real concern for me. It keeps me up at night, and I’m sure it keeps this team up at night. How do you handle, you know, close to 4,000 people a week — a week — it’s a challenge."

The migrant situation has caused cuts in other city services. Many local departments have implemented a general hiring freeze, there are forced service cuts at local libraries, and the long-standing curbside e-waste pickup program has ended.

Council members have taken issue with the mayor's explanation of the budget cuts and have stated that they are partially related to the termination of federal funding from the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, the mayor urged those unhappy with the city's current situation should make their voices heard in Washington.

“The heart and soul of who we are as Americans is to go to our center of government and raise our voices when we believe government is not responding accordingly,” he said. “I’m not pushing this off on New Yorkers. I’m saying to New Yorkers you’re angry and I’m angry, and the source of our discontent lies in Washington D.C. And we need to mobilize and rally and go to D.C. and say to the national government, this is not fair, what’s happening to New York City.”