The city may not be aware of additional migrants who have arrived in recent days. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Monday that officials are evaluating how to respond to the influx of immigrants, including considering legal options. “Once we have finalized how we will continue to meet our legal and ethical obligation, we will announce it. Until then, we’re just letting people know what we’re thinking and how we’re going to find creative ways to solve this man-made humanitarian crisis,” Adams said at an unrelated event. The mayor pointed to Texas Governor Greg Abbott as partly responsible for the current situation. “I think the Governor of Texas and others are responsible for creating this man-made humanitarian crisis, that’s what I think,” he said. Texas has spent more than $12 million to bus migrants to Washington and New York, according to figures from the Texas Department of Emergency Management. As part of Gov. Abbott’s response to the Biden administration’s immigration policies, the state has bused more than 11,000 immigrants to New York, Washington, D.C. and Chicago since August, Abbott’s office announced last week. Adams said he spoke with the mayor of El Paso and told him that New York cannot accommodate so many asylum seekers. The mayor also said the city has been in contact with Abbott’s office, adding that the Texas governor and his team have not been open to communication. CNN is reaching out to Governor Abbott’s office and the city of El Paso for comment. Adams reiterated that New York is still a sanctuary city, but stressed that it is unable to handle such an overwhelming influx of immigrants. “We’re not telling anyone that New York can accommodate every immigrant in the city,” the mayor said Monday. “We’re not encouraging people to send eight, nine buses a day. That’s not what we’re doing. We’re saying as a sanctuary city with right to housing, we’re going to meet that obligation. That’s what they were going for.”
The immigrant killed himself at a city shelter, the mayor said
An asylum seeker killed herself at a city shelter on Sunday, according to Adams, who said the woman was a mother. The city was unable to provide details about the woman or her death, but Adams expressed that the death “just really highlights how real this issue is.” Our hearts break for this young woman and any loved ones she may have, and we as a city mourn her. This tragedy is a reminder that we have an obligation to do everything in our power to help those in need,” the mayor said in a statement released by his office.
