Biden administration officials shift blame for NYC migrant crisis on to Mayor Eric Adams: ‘It is not an operationally sound effort’
Biden administration officials shift blame for New York’s migrant crisis to Mayor Eric Adams: ‘It’s not an operationally responsible effort’
- DHS officials told NBC News that local officials have “no exit strategy” for the 10,000 migrants New York City takes into temporary housing each month
- Eric Adams blames a lack of federal aid, a ‘broken’ national immigration system and Republican governors busing their migrants to New York City
- This comes as tensions rise between local and national Democratic officials and Adams says out-of-control immigration threatens to ‘destroy’ the Big Apple
Biden administration officials have blamed Mayor Eric Adams for New York’s spiraling migrant crisis as tensions rise between Democratic factions.
Department of Homeland Security officials have blasted the mayor’s office for having “no exit strategy” for the 10,000 refugees the city hosts each month.
Their comments are the latest example of the president’s inner circle passing the humanitarian issue like a hot potato to local officials, who in turn shift responsibility back to the White House.
An employee of the Ministry of Homeland Security said this NBC News Insiders worry that this cycle could overshadow the government’s achievements on other fronts.
Another official placed the blame squarely on the mayor, telling NBC Adams he has “no exit strategy” to move thousands of refugees out of the city’s overcrowded temporary housing units.
Department of Homeland Security officials have criticized the mayor’s office for having “no exit strategy” for the 10,000 refugees the city receives each month
Biden administration officials have blamed Mayor Eric Adams for New York’s spiraling migrant crisis, as tensions rise between Democratic factions
“It is not an operationally sound effort,” they said.
The federal official said they worked with a DHS team sent to study New York’s handling of asylum seekers in August and prepared an assessment that has not been made public.
Adams recently admitted that the crisis threatens to “destroy” the Big Apple — but he decried the lack of federal support, a “broken” nationwide immigration system and Republicans ferrying refugees from their own states into the city.
“Let me tell you something, New Yorkers. Never in my life have I had a problem that I didn’t see an end to. I don’t see an end to this,” the former top NYPD cop said.
“This issue will destroy New York City. Destroy the city of New York.”
Taking aim at Biden, he added: “We are not getting support for this national crisis.”
On August 9, Adams made an emotional plea for money and called on Biden to declare a state of emergency.
New York is bound by a decades-old consent decree to provide shelter for those who catch the subway, and Adams has done just that desperate turned to a variety of landmarks, makeshift shelters and temporary housing as short-term solutions.
Nearly every decision he makes on the issue has drawn a backlash from New Yorkers, who last month planned the transformation of the historic Redbury and Roosevelt hotels into exclusive migrant shelters.
Democrats in New York are at war over how to handle the migrant crisis, as New York City struggles to accommodate the massive influx of people seeking asylum
The arrival of at least 100,000 migrants in the Big Apple since April 2022 has been described by officials as a humanitarian crisis
The mayor’s desperation to provide housing even led him to propose moving refugees to Manhattan’s infamous MCC prison — the same dilapidated prison where Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in 2019.
Last month, Anne Williams-Isom, the city’s deputy mayor for health and social services, said the number of migrants in New York’s homeless shelters exceeds 57,000 — just over half of the total.
In March, city officials launched a 24-hour center to process the numbers and created a new agency to help coordinate efforts.
The migration situation in the Big Apple has been described by officials as a humanitarian crisis, costing more than $9 million a day to house, feed and support them.