New York City Mayor Eric Adams has declared a state of emergency and asked the City Council for more than $1 billion in funding to respond to immigrants who are dropped off on buses coming from Texas.
The Democratic mayor announced the move Friday morning during a press conference, adding that the financial ask would go toward operations through June 2023, an indication that the city does not believe the record-high flow of immigrants at the southern border will stop any time soon.
"We're going to do what we have to do in New York, but we do need help to deal with this crisis that we're facing," Adams said.
BIDEN BLAMES 'MAGA REPUBLICANS' AS COURT RULES AGAINST DACA
Illegal migration at the southern border has soared since President Joe Biden took office. Federal agents have made 150,000 to 200,000 arrests each month over the past 18 months, mostly on the U.S.-Mexico border. Eleven months into the government's 2022 fiscal year, the Border Patrol has apprehended 2,005,026 people — blowing past the 2021 record of 1,662,167
More than 1 million people have been released into the interior of the U.S. during Biden's tenure — more than the populations of Boston, Denver, Las Vegas, Seattle, or Washington, based on 2021 Census Bureau data.
The impact of migrant releases on bus, airline, and other transportation networks in border cities is what prompted Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) in April to offer free bus rides to cities that immigrants would otherwise have had to pay to fly to. Abbott blamed Biden's "catastrophic open border policies" for the strain placed on Texas communities and resources.
On Friday, Abbott supported his migrant busing operation, tweeting: "Sanctuary cities like New York City experience a FRACTION of what Texas border communities face every day.
"We'll continue busing migrants to NYC, DC, & Chicago to relieve our overwhelmed border towns until Biden does his job to secure the border."
Sanctuary cities like New York City experience a FRACTION of what Texas border communities face every day. We'll continue busing migrants to NYC, DC, & Chicago to relieve our overwhelmed border towns until Biden does his job to secure the border.https://t.co/fVNuf6nLAm
More than 10,000 immigrants have voluntarily boarded buses to Chicago, New York City, and Washington between the spring and late summer, a small fraction compared to the remaining 990,000 who were released and made their own travel arrangements since early 2021.
The busing move was partly political and partly logistical for how it alleviated pressure on border towns that do not have adequate Greyhound buses to major cities in other parts of the state.
Immigrants released into the country are allowed to travel anywhere nationwide. Some have opted for the free ride on state-funded buses rather than paying out of pocket for transportation. Texas has state-funded buses running to New York, Washington, and Chicago. Arizona has buses available to Washington.
Democratic mayors in the three cities are reeling from the drop-offs. Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a state of emergency, dubbing the fewer than 10,000 immigrants bused into the district a “humanitarian crisis.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Adams has spent nearly $7 million on facilities meant to receive immigrants, while homeless shelters are overcapacity and the city searches for 5,000 hotel rooms to house the immigrants going forward. A series of massive tents set up in the Bronx to hold migrants have been moved to Queens as the city struggles to accommodate the arrivals.
Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in early summer 2021. The billion-dollar effort deployed state police and National Guard to the border to help Border Patrol agents apprehend smugglers and illegal immigrants. Because half of Border Patrol agents have been pulled from the field to transport, process, and watch over those in custody amid the uptick in arrests this past year and a half, fewer are in the field to stop illegal entry attempts.