The mayor of New York, Eric Adams, on Friday declared a state of emergency, amid an influx of migrants sent to the city by the Republican governor of Texas.
Speaking to reporters at city hall, Adams said he expected to spend at least $1bn by the end of the fiscal year in effort to address the problem.
“This is an ‘all hands on deck’ moment,” Adams said.
In a move tied to Republican efforts ahead of the midterm elections, the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, continues to send buses filled with migrants to New York.
In September, the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, flew dozens of asylum seekers to Martha’s Vineyard, an affluent community in Massachusetts.
The Republicans are seeking to draw attention to what they consider to be failed border policies under the Biden administration. In turn, activists, advocates and Democrats have accused the governors of treating migrants cruelly in order to perform political stunts.
According to New York authorities, more than 17,000 asylum seekers have been bussed to the city since the spring. Adams’s administration estimates that once the asylum seekers from buses arriving this Sunday are given shelter, the city will surpass the highest number of people ever recorded in its shelter system.
“There was never any agreement to take on the job of supporting thousands of asylum seekers,” Adams said on Friday. “This responsibility was simply handed to us without warning as buses began showing up. There is no playbook for this, no precedent.”
In a New York Post column in August, Abbott accused Adams of hypocrisy over border policy.
“Adams talked the talk about being a sanctuary city – welcoming illegal immigrants into the Big Apple with warm hospitality,” the Republican wrote. “Talk is cheap. When pressed into fulfilling such ill-considered policies, he wants to condemn anyone who is pressing him to walk the walk.”
On Friday, Adams called Abbott “untrustworthy”.
New York has established “tent city” emergency relief centers where newly arrived asylum seekers, many from Venezuela, can rest and get help with travel to their next destination.
About a third of the migrants who arrive in New York move on to another city or state. Many are seeking permission to remain in the US because they fear persecution in their home countries.
