Stunning new images have exposed New York City's migrant crisis, with hundreds of people – mostly young men – lining up for shelter in Manhattan.
The images that emerged Wednesday showed the latest group of migrants looking cold and miserable as they stood in a line that snaked around a building on East 7th Street in the East Village.
One of the hundreds of men told a reporter that he is from Venezuela and had recently arrived to join other members of his family already in the Big Apple.
The alarming scene underlines Mayor Eric Adams' recent admission that NYC – proudly touted as a beacon of the Democrats' “Sanctuary City” policy – is now at a “breaking point.”
More than 160,000 migrants have arrived in the city since spring 2022, and the crisis is only deepening as they continue to travel on buses from Texas, where record numbers are pouring across the border.
The footage showed the latest group of migrants looking cold and miserable as they stood in a line that snaked around a building on East 7th Street in the East Village.
The alarming scene underscores Mayor Eric Adams' recent admission that NYC — proudly touted as a beacon of the Democrat's “Sanctuary City” policy — is now at a “breaking point.”
About 300,000 people crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in December – the highest monthly figure ever, while more than 785,000 people have crossed the border since October – the highest quarterly total ever.
Adams admitted it Fox 5's Rosanna Scotto earlier this week he said: 'We're getting somewhere between 2,500 and a peak of 4,000 a week.'
'What happens when there's no more room?' Scotto asked at one point during the interview, in which the 63-year-old Brownsville resident sat across from her in front of several American — and one New York — flags.
“We didn't just say we ran out of room,” Adams responded, referring to the more than 161,000 migrants who have arrived since spring 2022 and sought help from the city.
“We are literally running out of room,” the Democrat declared. “People will end up sleeping on the streets.”
Adams responded that this was simply not possible, due to laws prohibiting both state and local officials from enforcing federal immigration laws.
“I don't have the authority to tell people they can't come to New York City,” Adams explained to an oblivious Scotto, who then asked, “Why not?”
“It's against the law,” he replied, seemingly angry at the question. Then he said it a second time, claiming again, “It's against the law.”
Estimates from earlier this week show the city has spent $2 billion on housing the migrants and continues to pour money into the crisis.
One of hundreds of men told a reporter that he is from Venezuela and had recently arrived to join other members of his family already in the Big Apple
The mayor revealed that the city's 'sanctuary' status has hampered his ability to deal with the crisis
Estimates from earlier this week show the city has spent $2 billion on housing the migrants and continues to pour money into the crisis.
Poll after poll shows New Yorkers are dissatisfied with the Biden administration's handling of the current situation after allocating just $140 million to help the city.
Mayor Adams has had to make more than a dozen trips to DC in the last few years to plead for more aid as he faces a projected cost of $12 billion if the crisis continues.
Those calls have so far gone unanswered, and for now the Big Apple appears to be on its own.
Meanwhile, earlier this year it was revealed that a record number of migrants crossed the US southern border in December, surpassing the highest number under President Biden.
Republicans have seized on border security issues as a major 2024 election issue, which has become a political headache for President Biden.
Texas National Guard detains migrants crossing the Rio Grande River to seek humanitarian asylum before crossing the border into the United States in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on January 2, 2024
A migrant man crosses the Rio Grande with his child in the air to avoid getting wet on January 2, 2024
Speaker Mike Johnson and 60 House Republicans will tour the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass today as part of their campaign.
The group, organized by Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, who represents the area, will hear from Border Patrol, the Texas Department of Public Safety and other stakeholders and tour the region.
It is the first large-scale congressional delegation to the border led by the new chairman.
In December, Johnson sent a letter urging President Biden to use executive powers to immediately stem the flow of migration.
The speaker instructed the president to end “catch-and-release,” under which migrants found between ports of entry should be turned away and only be used on a “case-by-case basis” conditional release.
He also called on the president to reinstate Trump-era policies such as building the wall, reinstating the Remain in Mexico program and expanding expedited removal for those who cannot prove eligibility for asylum.