New York Mayor Eric Adams’ senior adviser has called on the Biden administration to close the border as former President Bill Clinton warns that the city’s right to protection has been “broken.”
Ingrid Lewis-Martin made the comments on Sunday as she spoke about the crisis that has resulted in over 116,000 migrants arriving in the city in 18 months, with more than 60,000 of them still in the city’s custody. The Adams administration is currently trying to change the city’s shelter-in-place order to stop admitting new migrants – a stunning reversal since both the Democratic mayor and governor initially welcomed asylum seekers with open arms.
“It would alleviate the situation to the extent that others would not be as willing and able to come to New York City because they know ‘they won’t provide us with housing,'” Martin said when asked Right to change protection law. “We have to find a way to make it clear to them that we are no longer responsible for you, you have to find other means. ‘Go to another state.’
However, Marin added that the federal government should ultimately be in control of the situation as it called for the borders to be closed: “We need the federal government, the members of Congress, the Senate and the President to do their job: close the borders, ‘ she told PIX11.
Meanwhile, Clinton has supported Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s attempt to change the shelter law, telling 77 WABC Radio’s The Cats Roundtable: “It’s broken.” “We have to fix it…It doesn’t make sense.”
New York Mayor Eric Adams’ senior adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, has called on the Biden administration to close the border
“They come here and we are supposed to accommodate people who cannot get a work permit for six months.” “We have to change that,” he added. “You should work. They have to start working, paying taxes and making a living. Most of these people have no interest in receiving welfare.”
Adams has asked a judge to change the right-to-shelter law, but the matter is still before the courts.
Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy quickly responded to Martin’s comments about the border, clarifying that the mayor believes that “of course this nation should continue to welcome immigrants – both those seeking asylum and those who are.” don’t do this.”
The contrasting comments from Adams staff come as an upstate county has blocked the mayor’s attempts to send some of the city’s asylum seekers north.
Last week, Adams announced plans to issue migrant housing vouchers for use outside New York’s five boroughs, but Republican County Executive Anthony Picente of Oneida responded with an emergency order saying he had to approve all vouchers and would only do so after Locals in need were taken in for care, the Oneida Daily Dispatch reported.
“This is just a veiled attempt by Mayor Adams to shift the refugee crisis from New York City to upstate counties,” Picente said. “This action is due to the complete failure of federal government policy and the lack of leadership in Albany.”
“We’re supposed to house people who can’t get work permits for six months.” “We have to change that,” former President Bill Clinton said of the “Right to Shelter” law.
Over 116,000 migrants arrive in the city in 18 months, more than 60,000 of whom are still in the city’s custody
The New York government is desperately trying to tell asylum seekers to choose another city as record numbers of migrants continue to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
More than 200,000 migrants entered the U.S. illegally in September, highlighting the severity of the border crisis that the Biden administration is struggling to contain.
Adams’ administration announced Wednesday that it would distribute leaflets at shelters and at the southern border to warn migrants that they will not be offered free housing in the Big Apple.
Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Ana Williams Isom showed the updated flyers during a city council meeting and said they would be used to combat “misinformation” from social media or from human traffickers about migrant services in the city.
“We will be distributing these flyers in our shelters and reception centers in New York City, as well as through NGOs and nonprofit organizations across the country,” she said at the meeting. “We know that there are people in our shelters who are telling their family members to come to New York City and that they will get housing… that has never been the case, but we want to make sure we are clear about it.” with people that New York City doesn’t have space anymore.’
The city had already distributed similar leaflets in July to deter asylum seekers at the border, but the updated message is much clearer
As the city ran out of space, landmarks like the Roosevelt Hotel were converted into temporary shelters
In September, more than 200,000 migrants entered the United States illegally
One of the messages on the flyers reads: “NYC is one of the most expensive cities in the world; “It’s better to go to a cheaper city.”
That’s not an accurate message — while Adams is trying to change police housing laws as he deals with the influx of migrants, the law is still in effect, meaning the city will provide housing to anyone who requests it must offer.
As the city ran out of space, landmarks like the Roosevelt Hotel were converted into temporary shelters. NYC currently pays hotels an average of $185 per day per room and spends about $385 per night per migrant family in need of room and board. According to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, asylum seekers cost the city about $10 million a day.
Adams said the crisis will cost the city $12 billion over three years.
Both city and state governments initially welcomed asylum seekers sent to northern sanctuary cities by Republican governors because they were fed up with what they saw as Democrats’ open immigration policies.
Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul began by saying they were proud to lead the city’s Right to Shelter, citing the Statue of Liberty’s message about welcoming the “poor, tired and hungry.”
But over 100,000 arrivals later, both Adams and Hochul have repeatedly told asylum seekers that there is no place for them in New York.
Since July, Adams has been telling migrants that the city is overwhelmed and warning that the crisis would “destroy” the city if the situation continued to escalate without government help.
New York City’s refugee crisis is expected to cost the city $4.7 billion this year. Above is a list of some landmarks that have been converted into emergency shelters as authorities struggle to house nearly 60,000 migrants in the city’s care
However, the city quietly extended its contracts with the more than 100 hotels used as emergency shelters and plans to spend a staggering additional $1 billion on hotel rooms for immigrants over three more years.
The city’s contract, which was set to expire this year, now ends in August 2026 and costs a total of $1.365 billion – nearly five times the original price tag of $237 million.
The new costs do not include other facilities that have been converted into emergency shelters, such as the tent shelters at McCarren Recreation Center in Queens or Island Shores Assisted Living in Staten Island.
Mayor Eric Adams said Sept. 9 that spending would be cut by 15 percent by next spring to address an influx of 116,000 migrants in 2023, with 60,000 of the desperate people being housed in the city.
Adams – who is up for re-election in 2025 – told city officials that they would each have to cut spending by 5 percent by November at the latest. There will then be a further 5 percent reduction in January and a final decline in April.