Adams blames $4.2B budget shortfall on Biden admin’s migrant crisis inaction
Mayor Eric Adams blasted President Biden on Wednesday, saying the White House had “turned its back” on the Big Apple and left the city to handle the arrival of thousands of migrants on its own — a situation Hizzoner said had triggered “one of the largest humanitarian crises that this city has ever experienced.”
“The national government has turned its back on New York City,” said Adams, blaming a projected $4.2 billion budget shortfall on the feds’ inaction. “Every service in this city is going to be impacted by the asylum seeker crisis.”
“This is in the lap of the president of the United States! The president of the United States can give us the ability to allow people to work. This is in the lap of the executive branch of the United States of America,” the mayor added, claiming that most migrants had come to New York to work and support themselves but are prohibited from doing so legally for the first six months of their stay.
More than 55,000 foreigners claiming to be seeking refuge from persecution and violence have arrived in NYC over the past year.
Some 200 asylum seekers arrive in the city every day, and it costs $380 per day per household to provide them with food and shelter, according to City Hall.
Most of the migrants, about 34,600 of them, are being put up in taxpayer-funded emergency shelters — mostly hotels — with thousands more dropped off at eight Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers (HERRCs).
“Over 50,000 people come to the city of New York seeking assistance and we are told, ‘You will not allow them to work, you have to … give them food, clothing if they need, give them the basic services that they need, you’re supposed to make sure they have three meals a day, make sure that all the children are educated — and while you’re doing that, New York City, we’re not going to give you anything in return,'” Adams complained.
The situation will only become more costly and dire next month, when the Title 42 health policy is set to expire, the mayor said. The pandemic-era emergency measure that was continued by the Biden administration let officials quickly expel millions of asylum seekers on public health grounds.
“Thousands of people are waiting to come across the border and potentially come to New York City,” Adams warned. “So 52,000 can jump to 100,000, if we don’t get this under control. It does this great city a disservice and we’re calling on the Biden-Harris administration, the United States Department of Homeland Security, they must use all tools that are available to resolve this issue.”
The mayor later claimed that in some ways, the city was a victim of its own success because it had paid for sheltering migrants without raising taxes or laying off municipal workers. However, Adams recently ordered city agencies to slash $4 billion from their budgets over the next four years to pay for the massive humanitarian effort.
“The money god just doesn’t appear and drop it in front of us,” he said. “As it currently stands, our national government has abandoned the city and their action or inaction could undermine this city. Everything we’ve fought for is in jeopardy if we don’t get this right.”
Gotham is set to receive about $1 billion from Albany to mitigate migrant costs in addition to a still-to-be-determined share of an $800 million relief package approved by federal lawmakers.
When asked what DC has said in response to his repeated requests for cash, Adams answered: “We constantly hear, ‘We understand your pain.’
“I don’t need to understand, I need help,” he implored. “We need help from the federal government.”
The White House responded by attempting to deflect criticism for insufficient funding onto fiscally conservative House Republicans, even though Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress until January.
“We’re proud of our partnership with Mayor Adams and the significant investments we’ve made in New York City through the President’s historic legislative accomplishments, including the American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” a White House official said.
“We’ve invested historic funds to improve the city’s infrastructure, including its iconic bridges, tunnels, and airports. We quickly worked to get vaccines out to New Yorkers and provided the city resources to safely re-open its schools. FEMA is also providing assistance to support the city as it receives migrants and will announce additional funding for receiving cities like New York City in the coming weeks, but we need Congress to provide the funds and resources we’ve requested to fix our long-broken immigration system.”
Adams was set to go to Washington on Friday for the African American Mayors Association conference and to meet with White House officials about the migrant crisis.
Meanwhile, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams joined members of New York’s congressional delegation and immigration activists at the Capitol on Wednesday to demand federal action on immigration reform and migrant funding.
