New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) is sounding the alarm over the number of immigrants released by Border Patrol who have made their way to one of America's biggest cities and are now overwhelming city services.
NBC New York reports Adams is calling on the federal government to help the city deal with the influx of people who illegally crossed the U.S-Mexico border, turned themsleves in to Border Patrol, and have been released waiting for their immigration court dates.
Due to New York City's "right to shelter" mandate, a homeless asylum seeker must be placed in a shelter.
"Currently, New York City is experiencing a marked increase in the number of asylum seekers who are arriving from Latin America and other regions. In some instances, families are arriving on buses sent by the Texas and Arizona governments, while in other cases, it appears that individuals are being sent by the federal government," Adams said in a statement, adding that over 2,800 asylum seekers recently entered the shelter system.
Adams blamed Texas and Arizona for busing the people from the southern border to his town, but the buses from those two states are only being sent to Washington, D.C.
"If they need financial help, they should ask for it instead of heartlessly sending asylum seekers on their way with a one-way ticket," an Adams' spokesperson said of Texas' and Arizona's governors. "In New York City, we have a legal and moral mandate to provide shelter to everyone who needs it, and will continue to fulfill that mandate, but, as we have said, we urgently need federal support to help us do so."
In the month of June, Border Patrol agents along the southern border encountered over 200,000 illegal border crossers. A majority of those are the ones who are willingly turning themsleves in so they can be processed and released. This has strained resources in border towns, which prompted Texas and Arizona to send people to Washington, D.C. on a voluntary basis.