Photo: Corbis News
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has declared a city emergency as an influx of migrants bused in from border states has overwhelmed the city's shelter system.
"We now have a situation where more people are arriving in New York City than we can immediately accommodate, including families with babies and young children," Adams said during a press conference on Friday (October 7). "Once the asylum seekers from today's buses are provided shelter, we would surpass the highest number of people in recorded history in our city's shelter system."
Since the spring, over 17,000 migrants have been bused to New York City, mainly from Texas and Arizona. In addition, thousands of migrants have also been bused or flown to other cities, including Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Martha's Vineyard.
"This is a humanitarian crisis that started with violence and instability in South America and is being accelerated by American political dynamics," Adams said. "Thousands of asylum seekers have been bused into New York City and simply dropped off, without notice, coordination, or care — and more are arriving every day."
Adams noted that around 20% of the 61,000 people currently in city shelters are migrants. To deal with the crisis, Adams is asking for federal and state aid, anticipating the city will spend $1 billion to care for them. He said that officials have opened up 42 emergency shelters in hotels to house the migrants, who continued to arrive every day.
"Although our compassion is limitless, our resources are not," Adams said. "This is unsustainable."