New York City Mayor Eric Adams expressed his frustration Thursday over the ever-growing migrant population in the Big Apple, despite its self-proclaimed sanctuary city status.
“This is a national and state-wide issue that has been unjustly dropped into the lap of New York City residents,” Adams complained. The mayor then went on to explain that the city itself only makes up 0.05 of the entire land mass of the state of New York, but is still housing “over 99% of the migrants.”
Democrat Mayor Eric Adams complains illegal immigrants have been “unjustly dropped into the laps of New York City residents” — despite his city being a “sanctuary city.” pic.twitter.com/A2WhlkCg8v
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New York City became a sanctuary city under the Democratic administration of Ed Koch in the 1989. Koch’s administration wanted to ensure that asylum seekers in NYC could enroll their children in public school and receive medical care without fear of being deported. Eventually, city employees — particularly police officers — were no longer permitted to ask migrants about their immigration status. In 2014, Mayor Bill De Blasio “dramatically reduced” NYC’s cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
After he was elected, Adams proclaimed on social media that New York City would retain its sanctuary city status under his administration, stating simply, “‘We should protect our immigrants.’ Period.” (RELATED: ‘Aha! There You Have It’: Laura Ingraham Rips NYC Mayor, Progressives For ‘Borders Are … Immoral’ Hypocrisy)
As one of the only cities in the country with a “right to shelter” law, New York City is required, by law, to provide a bed to someone who needs it. Originally meant to support the homeless, the policy is now being interpreted to house more than 55,000 migrants — more than half of the total shelter population, Politico reported in July.
In July, Adams authorized the distribution of “No Vacancy” fliers which asked migrants to “please consider another city as you make your decision about where to settle in the U.S.” As part of a plan to help mitigate the growing problem of overcrowding at shelters within the city, Adams declared that single adult migrants could only stay in the city’s shelters for 60 days and would need to reapply for a space after that, the outlet stated.
“We have no more room,” Adams declared.