New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency Friday to respond to the massive influx of immigrants into the city. US media reported that it would cost the city $1 billion this year.
“We’re dealing with a situation where more people are arriving in New York City than we can immediately accommodate, including families with children and young children,” Adams said, according to CNN. “Once we accommodate the newly arrived asylum seekers on buses, we will have more people in our reception system than ever before.”
More than 61,000 people are in city shelters today, according to the New York Times. About 17,000 Latin American immigrants have arrived since April.
So the mayor is asking for help from the state and federal levels in funding housing and services for immigrants stranded at the city’s homeless shelter. The city is also continuing its plans to build a tent shelter on Randalls Island and is also negotiating with cruise companies to house the migrants on boats.
In New York, 42 emergency shelters have already been set up and 5,000 children have already been enrolled in schools, Adams said. An emergency should help create new services more quickly. Adams is also looking at moving immigrants to other cities.
The mayor also emphasized that New York remains a “sanctuary city”, where illegal immigrants should not fear persecution. But it is simply impossible to manage such a flow.
Adams has been criticized within the New York City Council for his approach to the refugee crisis, and more specifically for his plan to take immigrants on board ships and in tents. Critics demand the use of empty hotels and the movement of people in shelters to permanent housing.
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