Eric Adams, a Democrat from New York City, expressed his hope that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott can see how the city is managing the migrant crises during his visit to the Big Apple. The Republican Governor will be offered a free stay in a migrant shelter.
Adams’ remarks came just before Abbott, who in recent years has brought thousands of migrants into New York City, headlines the New York Republican Party annual gala on Thursday evening.
Adams, when asked by a reporter about Abbott’s visit to the city, said: “I will offer him a free stay at one of our HERRCs to see what he created and how we treat people with dignity and respect.”
Adams’ use of “HERRCs” refers to New York City’s Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers, which have served as a temporary housing facility for migrants arriving in the city.
“I’m not quite sure why he’s here and what he’s doing while here, but he’s going to see how you can manage the crisis with the coordination of not one child of families sleeping on the streets of the city of New York,” Adams added. “When we coordinate together, we should not displace problems to local municipalities. That is not what executives do. Unfortunately, he decided to do that.”
Adams’ comments, which he has made repeatedly in criticizing Abbott for failing to coordinate with the city over illegal immigration, were made after the city started giving out prepaid cards last week to illegal immigrants living in the Big Apple. The prepaid cards can only be used in bodegas, supermarkets, convenience stores, and grocery stores. They are intended to be used for purchasing food and baby products.
Despite public protests, the effort is part of a reported pilot program worth $53 million to distribute prepaid cards for migrant families staying in hotels. The mayor’s office has confirmed that the program will give migrant families with four children and two under-fives up to $350 per week for the duration of their stay.
Since 2022, New York City has seen a surge of 180,000 migrants. This has overwhelmed city resources and officials are struggling to find them housing.
Abbott bussed asylum seekers to New York, among other cities, in an attempt to help them travel to jurisdictions that provide sanctuary and to highlight the crisis border communities face every day.
New York City is estimated to spend $10.6 billion by summer 2025 on migrants. New York State has pledged to contribute approximately $2 billion to the migrant crises in the current budget cycle. Adams, however, told lawmakers that this would only cover a third of the city’s costs.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat from New York, suggested that the state allocate $2.4 billion for migrant services during the next budget cycle. However, the details are still being worked out by the state legislature. Adams’ office stated that even the allocation proposed by Hochul was $600 million less than what the city needed in its next budget cycle. The New York Daily News reported this in February.
Abbott has dealt with the same crisis on the southern border before. Adams wants the Texas Republican to see how NYC handled the migrant crises.
Fox News published an analysis in February that revealed nearly 7.3 million migrants have crossed the southwest border illegally since January 2021, when President Biden assumed office.
This number is more than 36 states’ population. It is from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
If illegal immigration continues at its current rate, fiscal 2024 could surpass the record set last year of 2,475,669 southwest-border encounters — which is more than the population of New Mexico.
Abbott will be the keynote speaker for the GOP fundraising event in Manhattan on Thursday night.
