Eric Adams said Thursday that he feels at home in Mexico — because there are so many Mexicans living in New York City.
The mayor arrived in Mexico City on Wednesday evening to begin a controversial visit that he said was aimed at understanding why migrants are flocking to the Big Apple.
Critics said it was a self-aggrandizing publicity tour and a waste of money – and argued he should instead be in Washington DC and Albany asking for more federal and state support.
New York City welcomed more than 122,000 migrants last year and is struggling to cope with the influx.
On Thursday, Adams traveled to the city of Puebla, 100 miles south of Mexico City, to meet with local leaders.
Eric Adams is seen Thursday in the city of Puebla, 100 miles south of Mexico City, as he continues his migration-themed tour
Adams tweeted a photo of the Puebla Law in which he was giving a speech on Thursday
“More than half a million members of the Puebla community live in New York City, and this region of Mexico feels like a little piece of home,” he wrote on X.
“You can feel the shared values of community and hard work.”
Adams shared photos from a visit to an altar and a meeting at Puebla’s ornate state congress building.
He spoke with local officials and described the ties between his city and a Mexican state that has sent some 800,000 of its residents to New York over the years.
‘We are neighbours. We are a family. My home is my home. “Your fights are my fights,” Adams said in the legislative chamber.
“During COVID-19, it was your children who kept our businesses open, the first responders, transportation workers and health care workers.
“We survived COVID because your children were in our city.”
After speeches by the governor of Puebla and the city’s mayor, members of Congress began chanting “Adams hermano, ya eres poblano,” a greeting that translates to “Brother Adams, you are already a Pueblan.”
Sergio Salomón Céspedes, the state governor, called him “Mayor of Puebla York.”
Adams is meeting with Mexican officials in the city of Puebla on Thursday
In August 2022, New York Mayor Eric Adams welcomed migrants at the Port Authority from Texas and said he was proud that New York was a sanctuary state
New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks to the press outside the Basilica of Guadalupe on Wednesday after a visit to the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City
Hundreds of migrants line up early August 1 to be housed at the reception center at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York
Migrants stream into New York City, lining up to enter Federal Plaza and file paperwork with immigration authorities, Oct. 2
But later, speaking to reporters, Adams returned to the refrain he had used on his trip to Latin America: “New York is at capacity.”
He added: “There is no more room in New York.” Our hearts are endless, but our resources are not. We don’t want to house people in shared accommodation. “We don’t want people to think they’re going to get a job.”
Late Tuesday, the city of New York asked a court to suspend its unique so-called “right to shelter” agreement, which requires it to provide emergency housing to anyone who requests it.
The request is the latest in a months-long effort to repeal the law that has long made New York a sanctuary city. The Adams administration argues that the agreement was never designed for a humanitarian crisis like the one the city is experiencing today.
Adams said the current crisis was due in part to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s “inhumane” decision last April to send migrants on chartered buses from his state to New York City.
“These are people who have traveled in very dangerous terrain. “And what he’s doing is exploiting that for political purposes,” Adams said.
Adams said these are “extremely challenging times.”
From an aerial view, a U.S. Border Patrol agent watches immigrants enter the United States from Mexico after crossing the Rio Grande on September 30
Asylum seekers wait to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States
“It will be extremely painful for New Yorkers, migrants and asylum seekers,” he said.
“Because of the magnitude of this problem, the costs involved and the management of this crisis, they deserve a more dignified environment than what we can provide.”
The mayor began his four-day tour of Latin America on Wednesday evening with a visit to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, a place of worship for many would-be migrants, just before they begin their journey north.
Over the next two days, Adams plans to travel to Quito, Ecuador, and Bogota, Colombia, before visiting the jungle-covered Darien Gap, a particularly dangerous stretch of the route many migrants take north on the Panama-Colombia border.