New York City Mayor Eric Adams used taxpayer funds to send migrants to red states including Texas and Florida with some even being sent as far as South America and China despite trashing Republican governors for sending them to the Big Apple.
Adams, a Democrat, spent about $50,000 of the city’s money to send 114 migrant households elsewhere in the world as the city is overrun with asylum seekers in the tens of thousands.
A total of 28 families were sent to Florida with 14 being sent to Texas, a few were sent to Colombia and one family to China. The migrants were allowed to choose where they were sent, reports Politico.
The mayor has previously slammed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott for bussing migrants to New York and other northeastern locales in what he called a ‘political stunt.’
‘This was part of a political ploy and that’s what we need to understand,’ Adams said on CNN at the time.
‘I mean, what was his purpose of sending a planeload to Martha’s Vineyard? He just felt as though he wanted to get into this horrendous action,’ he added in a press conference, according to ABC News.
Abbott has sent around 9,700 asylum seekers to New York City, according to Politico. DeSantis has flown about 85 migrants to Massachusetts and California.
Kate Smart, a spokesperson for the mayor, bizarrely tried to contrast the city’s efforts with those of Florida and Texas.
‘New York City has, as we have discussed very publicly for months, worked to connect individuals with friends, family, and networks whether in New York City or outside of it,’ Smart said in a statement.
‘We are not coercing people to leave, we are not suggesting or recommending locations, and we are not presenting any kind of false choice. We are helping people who want to reconnect with loved ones or communities do so.’
The city says that 78,700 migrants have come to New York since last spring and 48,700 of them are still under the city’s support system.
Adams, who has called the immigration crisis a ‘disaster’ has opened 174 emergency shelters and intake centers.
The city is slated to spend over $4.3billion to try and slow the crisis.
The city says that 78,700 migrants have come to New York since last spring and 48,700 of them are still under the city’s support system
The mayor has previously slammed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott (pictured) for bussing migrants to New York and other northeastern locales in what he called a ‘political stunt.’
‘I mean, what was his purpose of sending a planeload to Martha’s Vineyard? He just felt as though he wanted to get into this horrendous action,’ Adams said of DeSantis in a press conference
Earlier this year, Adams visited the U.S.-Mexico border and called the situation ‘a disaster’ that needed to be addressed at the federal level.
The visit came after governors from Republican-led states like Florida and Texas began busing and flying migrants in to New York City in 2022.
In late-May Adams called for migrants to be sent to every major city in America.
Adams reopened many of the city’s closed hotels and turned them into migrant shelters to deal with an influx of asylum seekers in late 2022 and early 2023.
However, on CBS’ Face the Nation, Adams told host Margaret Brennan that this is ‘not a burden on one city’ and proposed a shared solution.
‘We have 108,000 cities, villages, towns,’ he said.
‘If everyone takes a small portion of that, and if it’s coordinated at the border to ensure that those who are coming here to this country in a lawful manner is actually moved throughout the entire country, it is not a burden on one city.’
Adams has suggested putting migrants in ‘private residences’ to deal with the influx of economic dependents seekers in the Big Apple.
Adams reopened many of the city’s closed hotels and turned them into migrant shelters to deal with an influx of asylum seekers in late 2022 and early 2023
Earlier this year, Adams visited the U.S.-Mexico border and called the situation ‘a disaster’ that needed to be addressed at the federal level
The statement came while Adams announced a partnership with New York houses of worship to give migrants a place to stay across the city.
‘It is my vision to take the next step to this faith-based locales and then move to a private residence… They have spare rooms,’ Adams said Monday afternoon.
Adams said when the church-based program is fully operational, they hope to be able to host up to 1,000 asylum seekers at a time.
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