Upstate New York Officials Tell NYC Mayor to Stop Bussing Illegal Immigrants to Their Regions

Recently arrived illegal immigrants get information on free health care in front of P.S. 188 in Coney Island, which recently began housing asylum seekers in the school gym on May 16, 2023 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The Democrat Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, is continuing to send recently arrived migrants from the City to other parts of the state, without notifying the local authorities in advance or receiving their permission.

County authorities, who have been receiving illegals by the busload, have demanded that Adams immediately cease his operations.

New York’s migrant crisis has been blamed on the Biden administration by Republicans for its apparent unwillingness to secure the southern U.S. border with Mexico.

Over five million illegal immigrants have crossed into the United States since Biden took office.

NYC Unable to House or Feed Latest Wave of Illegal Immigrants

Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, some with criminal backgrounds, have already flooded the border regions since the beginning of the year, joining the millions already here.

State authorities in Texas, who have been taking in the majority of border crossers, have been sending them to sanctuary cities like New York, which has seen its social services and shelter systems overwhelmed.

Adams said that the 65,000 illegal immigrants who have flooded into the City over the past year, have caused its shelters to run out of room and that the rest of the state should share the burden.

“We believe the entire state should participate in a decompression strategy,” Adams said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

“And it’s unfortunate that there have been some lawmakers in counties that are not carrying on their role of ensuring that this is a decompression strategy throughout the state.”

Several New York counties have already declared states of emergency in an attempt to block the mayor’s efforts.

Rockland, Orange, and Onondaga counties have all filed in court to reverse the bussing efforts, saying that the hotels where the illegal immigrants are staying in are in violation of local ordinances.

NY Governor Accused of Inaction by Local Leaders

The crisis has put pressure on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has been blamed by county leaders and the Republicans, for not preventing Adams, a fellow Democrat, from carrying out his program.

Hochul’s management of the illegal migrant crisis and her open sympathy for the mayor’s actions has dismayed local leadership across the state.

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, who also happens to be a Democrat, said he was totally unaware that 40 migrant families were sent by Adams to a local Ramada Inn last week, until local police informed him.

Spano told Politico regarding Albany’s response, that state officials have not offered much assistance in providing social services and programs to the recent arrivals.

“This is a crisis. We all need to share in it. I get it. I’m not looking to make the refugees’ lives any more difficult than they already are, but to those just shipping people to places and then somehow think their mission is accomplished, it’s not,” he complained.

County leaders taking in the migrants said they are largely ill-prepared to deal with them without more aid from the governor.

“The City is trying to force saner suburban jurisdictions, which have made no claim to be sanctuary areas, to share the burden, instead of calling out the one person who can do anything about it: Joe Biden,” said New York State GOP Chairman Ed Cox, in a press statement.

Hochul Takes Criticism From Republicans Over Migrant Crisis

Hochul appeared in Brooklyn with Adams and top New York Democrats from Capitol Hill earlier this week, to request that the White House issue federal work permits to illegal migrants to alleviate the financial burden on the state.

The governor said that $1 billion would be allocated from the state budget to help the city address its lack of resources and that her office will also look for “welcoming communities” to house the migrants.

There are also proposals to utilize SUNY campus buildings and federal properties as shelters.

Hochul responded to her critics by then accusing “parts of our country and our state who are enacting bigoted policies based on fear and intimidation, join us. Join us. Let people know the true story of what New York is.”

New York Republican officials immediately criticized the governor’s statements.

“Democrats at every level of government are participants in the failure to secure our border,“ said Cox, adding, “just 60,000 of those five million have created a crisis beyond New York City’s ability to handle, as the City considers using more of its iconic landmarks to house migrants, including a potential tent city in Central Park.”

“Kathy Hochul, Eric Adams, Chuck Schumer, and Kirsten Gillibrand could alleviate this crisis by demanding in no uncertain terms that Joe Biden close the border,” Cox said.

The GOP state chairman added that New Yorkers would continue to be burdened, as long as the national illegal immigration crisis continued to spiral out of control.