NYC Mayor Warns of Public Service Cuts to Prioritize Incoming Migrants

With Title 42 set to expire in the coming days, even liberal sanctuary cities are terrified of the assuredly doomed results.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams says that the projected number of migrants expected to come to the city could be detrimental to public resources that current New York taxpayers rely on.

According to Fox News, the annual “State of the City's Economy and Finances” report released Thursday by the city comptroller projected $1 billion annually in spending through 2026 to cover housing, education, food, and other resources for migrants. 

“Our shelter system is full, and we are nearly out of money, staff, and space. Truth be told, if corrective measures are not taken soon, we may very well be forced to cut or curtail programs New Yorkers rely on, and the pathway to house thousands more is uncertain,” Adams said in a statement Sunday. “These are not choices we want to make, but they may become necessary, and I refuse to be forced to choose new arrivals over current New Yorkers. I'll say it again — we need a plan, we need assistance, and we need it now.”

In the past several months, New York City has already received more than 31,000 asylum seekers and currently has open 60 emergency shelters, four humanitarian relief centers and two welcome centers. Thousands of migrant children have been placed in schools. The mayor admitted the city “spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars paying to cloth, feed, house, and support this deeply in-need population.”

“The flow of asylum seekers to New York City has slowed in recent months but the tool that the federal government has used to manage those coming over the border is set to expire this week, and we have been told in no uncertain terms that, beginning today, we should expect an influx of busses coming from the border and that more than 1,000 additional asylum seekers will arrive in New York City every week,” Adams said. “We are in urgent need for help, and it's time for our state and federal partners to act — especially those in Congress who refuse to provide the financial resources or issue temporary work authorizations necessary for these individuals to live properly.”

“And while the New York federal delegation has repeatedly advocated for funding to be sent back to New York City, many in Congress — both Republicans and Democrats — have refused to lift a finger,” the mayor said in a statement. “This can't continue. With the expiration of Title 42 just days away, we need the federal government — both in the administration and in Congress — to share their plans to move asylum seekers to other cities, to allow asylum seekers to work, and to send aid to the cities that have borne the brunt of this crisis.”

Title 42 was enacted by the Trump administration in 2020 to help rapidly expel migrants from the border in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19. A recent federal court ruling found immigration officials can no longer turn back asylum seekers, the policy is scheduled to expire Wednesday despite shelters along the U.S.-Mexico border already packed with thousands of migrants. 

Last week California Governor Gavin Newsom also warned that repealing Title 42 could “break” the Golden State. Some experts have predicted the end of the policy could bring around 50,00 migrants to the border.

On Sunday, Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, told CBS's “Face the Nation” that the border city of El Paso is in a “dire” situation with Title 42 set to expire.

“What is happening is it's a hurricane of migrants,” Gonzales said.

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