Democratic mayors renew pleas for federal help and coordination with Texas over migrant crisis
CHICAGO– The mayors of Chicago, New York City and Denver renewed their pleas Wednesday for more federal assistance and coordination with Texas due to the growing number of asylum seekers arriving in their cities by bus and plane.
The mayors' requests come as U.S. cities struggle to manage the increasing number of migrants sent from Texas and other states. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's bus operation has transported more than 80,000 migrants to Democratic-run cities since last year. His government recently increased the practice of chartered planes.
The mayors sharply criticized Abbott and the efforts, saying buses arrive at all hours and outside designated drop-off zones with no details about who is on board.
“We cannot allow buses carrying people who need our help to arrive at all hours of the day and night without warning,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said at a virtual news conference with the other mayors. In an orderly manner, it endangers those who have already suffered so much.”
Chicago has been cracking down on so-called “rogue” buses, with lawsuits, fines and tickets. In recent weeks, buses have tried to avoid fines by making unscheduled drops in the suburbs, forcing local officials and authorities to intervene. Recently, a bus unloaded migrants overnight at a gas station in Kankakee, about 70 miles away. from Chicago.
“The lack of care seen over the past year and a half has created an incredible amount of chaos,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. More than 26,000 migrants have arrived in the city since last year.
Adams said New York City would implement similar rules to Chicago and announced an executive order Wednesday calling for buses to arrive at a single drop-off location only between 8:30 a.m. and noon on weekdays or face fines, lawsuits or bus seizures are taken. Denver has similar rules for delivering during certain hours on weekdays.
More than 161,000 migrants seeking help from the city have arrived in New York since the spring of 2022, including 4,000 last week, Adams and other officials said earlier this week.
The Democratic mayors met with President Joe Biden last month, following a letter asking for more aid. They want more federal funding, efforts to expand work permits and a schedule for when the buses will arrive.
Cities have already spent hundreds of millions of dollars to house, transport and provide medical care to migrants.
“It will crush city budgets across the country,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said. The city has received more than 35,000 migrants in the past year.
New York City has offered migrants one-way trips out of the city and into Latin America to discourage people from coming to the city. Members of the Johnson administration also went to border towns earlier this year in an effort to open lines of communication.
Abbott's office did not immediately return an email message left Wednesday. A spokesperson previously said the Abbott administration will “continue to take historic action” until the Biden administration secures the border.
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Associated Press reporters Jennifer Peltz in New York and Paul Weber in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.