New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency on Friday over the influx of illegal immigrants who have bused into the city in recent weeks.
“This is a humanitarian crisis that started with violence and instability in South America and is being accelerated by American political dynamics,” Adams said in a news conference on Friday. “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.”
The office of Adams, a Democrat, estimated (pdf) that about 17,000 illegal aliens have been taken to his city in recent months. The Republican governors of several border states and Democrat city officials in El Paso, Texas, have sent illegal immigrants to New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
“This crisis is not of our own making but one that will affect everyone in this city, now and in the months ahead,” Adams said, without making note of the Biden administration’s border policies. “New Yorkers deserve to know why this is happening and what we plan to do.”
Adams’ Emergency Order No. 224 (pdf) noted that the “state of Texas, and the city of El Paso, have pledged to continue sending asylum seekers on buses to New York City.” Reports have indicated that El Paso, which has a Democrat mayor and is located just north of the violence-plagued Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez, has sent even more illegal immigrants to New York than Texas.
“Texas has not provided notice to New York City, and has indicated that it will continue not providing notice to New York City, regarding how many busloads of people will be arriving, or the dates and times of their arrival,” the order said, adding that “many of the buses arrive at the Port Authority Bus Terminal unannounced and unscheduled, in the early morning or late night hours.”
Adams added to reporters Friday that NY is “talking potentially 100,000 people going into next year … months away.” The city has opened about 42 hotels as emergency shelters, the order said.
Border Crisis
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the chief proponent of the busing tactic, has repeatedly said that he will continue to transport illegal aliens who voluntarily sign up for the program to Democrat-run cities. At the same time, he’s said that Democrat leaders like Adams have endorsed “sanctuary city” policies and should be willing to take in illegal immigrants.
The Republican governor said it’s the best way to draw attention to the illegal immigration crisis that’s unfolding along the US-Mexico border and border regions in Texas can’t handle the increase.
Other Republicans, including Abbott, have accused President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and other administration officials of failing to secure the U.S. border. Since Biden took office in January 2021, an estimated 5 million people have crossed into the United States from Mexico, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
This week, the Abbott administration sent another van full of illegal aliens to Harris’ home in Washington, Fox reported. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, also commissioned a plane to fly illegal immigrants from Venezuela from Texas to the posh Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, in September, angering the left.
Impeachment
With the 2022 midterm elections just a few weeks away, Republicans are expected to take back at least the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate. In a letter this week, two top Senators warned Mayorkas that he faces impeachment proceedings if the border issue was not resolved quickly.
Although it is unlikely that Mayorkas will be convicted in a Senate impeachment trial, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wrote a letter to Mayorkas’s “failure to faithfully enforce this nation’s immigration laws and willful blindness to the very real humanitarian crisis at our southern border amounts to a gross dereliction of duty and a violation of your oath of office.”
“This is gross dereliction of duty and, if not corrected swiftly,” they added, “could provide grounds for impeachment.”
