As New York City received thousands of asylum seekers bussed from the US-Mexico border last year, mayor Eric Adams cast blame on the Republican governors of Texas, Arizona and Florida.
But when the cost to feed and house the migrants quickly escalated, Adams shifted his ire to the federal government, pressing for more emergency aid, and to allow asylum seekers to work legally.
On Wednesday, Adams delivered his harshest criticism yet, singling out president Joe Biden, an ally who has placed Adams on a national advisory board for his reelection campaign.
“The president and the White House have failed New York City on this issue,” Adams said during a news conference at City Hall, mentioning Biden by name several times.
Adams, who has said it could cost the city as much as $4 billion (€3.6bn) to feed and house the migrants over the next few years, urged the president to provide the city with funding, and to allow the arriving migrants work authorisations.
“This is one of the largest humanitarian crises that this city has ever experienced. It will impact every service in the city,” Adams said. “Why isn’t every elected official in Washington, D.C., asking the national government, ‘why are you doing this to New York?’”
The mayor’s remarks were curiously timed: he is scheduled to meet with federal officials in Washington on Thursday to discuss the migrant issue.
Adams said the looming expiration of Title 42, a public-health rule that allowed the Trump and Biden administrations to expel migrants and prevent them from seeking asylum at the border, is expected to increase the flow of migrants to the city.
Officials say that more than 55,000 people seeking asylum have arrived in New York City since the spring of 2022. Close to 35,000 are being housed by the city and are receiving services.
To deal with the influx, New York has opened more than 100 emergency shelters, and eight humanitarian emergency response and relief centres. In March, Adams announced a new 24-hour centre to welcome migrants, as well as the creation of a new agency to help co-ordinate the arrival of asylum seekers.
A White House statement released after Adams’ comments noted that the administration is “proud of our partnership with Mayor Adams and the significant investments we’ve made in New York City.”
New York City is expected to receive a large chunk of the $800 million that the federal government has set aside to help localities getting an influx of asylum seekers. New York state has also pledged $1 billion over the next two fiscal years.
The White House statement added that some asylum seekers are eligible for work authorisation under expanded programmes, and the temporary protected status granted to certain groups of immigrants, adding that congressional action on immigration reform was the only way to “reform and modernise our decades-old immigration laws.”
The criticism of Biden comes as the mayor is trying to gain approval for his $100 billion-plus budget. Adams has come under criticism for cuts to schools and libraries, and for what critics see as a lack of investment in affordable housing and mental health services.
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Advocates for the homeless have called on the city to use the influx of migrant seekers to fix long-standing problems with the city’s shelter system, such as the 90-day requirement of being in a shelter before getting permanent housing.
Council member Shahana Hanif, a co-chair of the city council’s progressive caucus and chair of the immigration committee, said she agrees with the mayor that the Biden administration must speed up work authorisations for migrants. But she cautioned that the city must not demonise asylum seekers.
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“I think it is a real mistake for this mayor to navigate welcoming asylum seekers as a crisis instead of focusing his attention on building an infrastructure that says, ‘New York City is a safe city for you and a sanctuary city for all of us,’ ” Hanif said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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