During a visit to the border city of El Paso, Texas, New York Mayor Eric Adams harshly criticized the federal government's response to the influx of immigrants into American cities, saying "we need clear coordination."
Adams said Sunday that cities where migrants arrive need help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Our cities are being undermined. And we don't deserve this. Migrants do not deserve this. And people who live in cities don't deserve this,” Adams said at the end of a weekend visit to El Paso. "We expect more from our national leaders to address this problem in a real way."
Adams said New York City has been overwhelmed. Since last spring, the city has received about 40,000 asylum seekers, and last week saw a record number of about 840 asylum seekers arriving in one day, according to Adams.
“New York can't take any more. We can't,” Adams said, adding that other cities can't anymore either. "No city deserves what is happening."
The Democrat also criticized the practice of some governors of transporting migrants directly from the border to cities like New York. For the past year, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has sent busloads of immigrants to Democratic-run cities seeking to maximize exposure of what he sees as the inaction of President Joe Biden's administration in the face of the large numbers of immigrants crossing. the southern border.
Adams noted that the governor of Colorado, a Democrat, had also transported immigrants to New York. He said the actions of those two governors showed a "bipartisan disrespect for cities and it was wrong."
Adams stated that the federal government should bear the cost that cities incur to help.
“We need a real FEMA leadership moment,” he said. "This is a national crisis."
Earlier this month, Biden also visited El Paso.
