In a year and a half, more than 110,000 migrants have arrived in New York, a situation which is creating tensions in the American megacity, particularly between its mayor and migrant aid associations.
“Never in my life had I faced a problem that I saw no end to. I don’t see an end to this,” declared, Wednesday September 6 during a public debate in the evening, Eric Adams, Democratic mayor of the American megalopolis of 8.5 million inhabitants which receives more than 10 000 new economic migrants and asylum seekers per month.
Some were sent by Republican governors, who charter buses or planes to send migrants to Democratic strongholds like New York, Washington or Los Angeles. In the United States, immigration is a hot political issue, with conservatives seizing every opportunity to accuse Democratic President Joe Biden of turning the border with Mexico into a sieve.
“Dangerous speech”
Eric Adams, a former African-American police officer, urges the federal government to help deal with this migration crisis. “The compassion of New Yorkers may be limitless, but our resources are not,” he already said in August. New York, by law, is required to provide shelter, food, and care to anyone seeking asylum.
The migration crisis “will destroy New York,” he assured Wednesday, comments strongly criticized by associations. The New York Immigration Coalition accused him Thursday of “blaming the mismanagement of newcomers (…) on vulnerable people seeking safety and opportunity.”
“This dangerous speech is something one would expect from a far-right politician,” the Coalition for the Homeless and Legal Aid Society said in a joint statement.
The councilor’s comments “are intended to irresponsibly create fear,” they said.
