NYC Mayor Adams Demands $1 Billion to Help With Migrants

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has requested $1 billion in emergency funds from the Biden administration in order to house more than 30,000 migrants who have descended upon the city, the New York Post reports. 

The city first declared a state of emergency in October, when Adams first told reporters that he would be asking for both federal and state aid to take care of the migrant population, which at the time stood at a little under 20,000.  

It was at this time that the mayor first estimated the $1 billion price tag for the city, but now more than two months later, the migrant population has swelled by more than 10,000, with the majority of them living in taxpayer-funded shelters. 

That number is expected to balloon even further in the coming weeks following the expiration next week of Title 42, a Trump-era policy from the early days of the pandemic that allowed authorities to quickly and efficiently expel migrants on public health grounds.

Adams has been raising flags for many months now, initially placing the blame on the GOP-led states who have been sending busloads of migrants to self-proclaimed sanctuary cities across the country, including New York.

In September, the mayor even accused Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis of eroding “basic human rights.”

The decision to bus migrants to some of the nation’s Democrat-led cities and away from the border has been defended as a necessary action to draw attention to the realities of the border crisis.

“In addition to Washington, D.C., New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city,” Gov. Abbott said in August.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has reportedly received Adams’ request for funds and is currently reviewing it.