New York mayor says city is full, forcing migrants onto streets

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
2 Aug 2023 23:29

New York Mayor Eric Adams claims that he has spoken with federal officials to try to find a solution and that it includes tighter border restrictions.

New York Mayor Eric Adams on the right speak at a news conference in the city's Times Square, on October 11, 2022. (AP)

According to the mayor of New York, formerly the entrance to the United States through Ellis Island and a city established by immigrants, is now at full capacity, but thousands of migrants continue to arrive each year in search of a better life.

After risky trips to escape violence and poverty, dozens of asylum seekers, mostly from West Africa, have been sleeping on streets outside a Manhattan hotel this week, while they wait to be processed.

Although two weeks ago Mayor Eric Adams claimed that there was no more room in the city due to an influx of migrants that has strained services to the breaking point, they are still looking for shelter in the Big Apple.

"There is no more room," Adams reiterated on Monday. And it's "not going to get better," he added.

After he made statements encouraging migrants to move to other cities in late July, he was accused of breaching the city's right-to-shelter rules and undermining the spirit of New York, represented by the Statue of Liberty, which formerly welcomed immigrants by sea.

Following a two-week journey from his native Mauritania to Turkey, Nicaragua, and finally the Mexican border, Abdoullahi Diallo was one among the people who waited outside the Roosevelt Hotel on Tuesday.

He spent $8,000 on the trip and said he was looking for "democracy" and "respect", according to the 25-year-old's statement to AFP. There were other people from Senegal looking for short-term housing.

Some said they waited for accommodations for five days while sleeping on cardboard in stores. During a brief heatwave last week, volunteers provided air-conditioned vans, as well as food and water.

More than 93,000 migrants, largely from Central and South America, have landed in New York since April of last year, and the city is obligated by law to provide free lodging to anybody who asks for it.

As a form of protest against President Joe Biden's immigration policy, Republican-led states like Texas have been sending migrants to areas with Democratic governors. This has caused an influx.

According to officials, there are currently around 106,000 persons under care in New York City, including about 54,000 migrants who reside in hotels or shelters.

Adams stated last month that officials will distribute fliers at the US-Mexico border warning people that there was "no guarantee" they would be given shelter in New York and to "please consider" a different location.

Adams claims that he has spoken with federal officials to try to find a solution and that it includes tighter border restrictions, declaring a state of emergency, and receiving federal assistance to handle the immigrant wave. He added that he wants federal officials to expedite the approval of work permits for recent immigrants.

"There's nothing more anti-American than you can't work," Adams added.

New York City has for long welcomes migrants, but Democrat Adams has been working to progressively reduce the number of newcomers.

"Our compassion is infinite. Our space is not," a senior official at the agency operating on the emergency housing for migrants said.

Adams has cited a lack of assistance from the federal and state governments.

Brad Lander, the city's comptroller, however, has accused him of undermining "the defining role of New York as a beacon of promise, inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty."

Diallo only wants the ability to support himself.

"We've crossed a lot of countries to get here. We've suffered. We've come here because we trust this country. We trust the United States," he said.