Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is suing up 30 upstate counties and Long Island for refusing to accommodate migrants.
Mayor Forces Migrants Into His Own Counties
New York City filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing more than 30 New York counties of violating state law by moving to block the city from relocating hundreds of migrants, and said it was time to bring an end to “xenophobic bigotry.”
“This lawsuit aims to put an end to this xenophobic bigotry and ensure our state acts as one as we work together to manage this humanitarian crisis fairly and humanely, as we have done from the beginning and as we will continue to do,” Adams said in a statement.
The lawsuit filed in state court in Manhattan says the counties, which stretch from the city’s northern suburbs to Niagara Falls on the U.S. border with Canada, are interfering with the city’s right to contract with hotels located elsewhere in the state to temporarily house migrants.
Migrants Are Pouring In
New York City has been overwhelmed by tens of thousands of migrants pouring into the five boroughs in the past year. The mayor’s office said more than 74,000 asylum-seekers have sought shelter in the city to date, most entering the U.S. from the southern border, with more than 47,200 currently being housed by the City of New York.
Hundreds of migrants are arriving daily, with as many as 900 individuals coming to the city in some weeks in May.
Around 72,000 migrants have passed through New York City since last spring, Deputy Mayor Anne Williams Isom said at Wednesday’s press briefing. About 47,500 of the asylum seekers are in shelters, and 162 emergency sites are operating, she added.
City Receives Help From Shelter Programs
Williams Isom also touched on Tuesday’s announcement that the city will receive $104.6 million from FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program for the migrant crisis.
“We have already spent over $1.2 million [on the migrant crisis] and expect to spend over $4.3 billion through next June,” she explained.
About 1,000 newcomers will be housed there overnight, while additional centers will be open during the day, Monrose said.
New York City has declared a state of emergency in response to tens of thousands of migrants bused to the city since last year from states along the U.S. southern border in a political dispute over border security.
Get the news you need at It’s On News.