NYC mayor declares state of emergency amid migrant bus crisis

NEW YORK, Oct 7 (Reuters) – New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency on Friday in response to thousands of migrants bused into the city in recent months from the southern US border. United in a political dispute over border security.

The city plans to spend $1 billion to manage the influx of migrants, Adams said in a speech at city hall. More than 17,000 have arrived in New York since April; an average of five or six buses a day since early September, with nine buses entering the city on Thursday, said Adams, a Democrat, straining the city’s homeless shelter system.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who is seeking a third term in the US midterm elections in November, flew more than 3,000 migrants to New York. Adams criticized Abbott for not alerting city officials when sending migrants to the city, calling it a “manufactured crisis”.

Abbott’s decisions are part of a high-profile campaign by him and the Republican governors of Florida and Arizona to highlight record crossings at the US-Mexico border ahead of the midterm elections. They argue that US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has failed to adequately secure the border.

Abbott also transported over 900 people to Chicago, while Texas and Arizona combined transported over 10,000 migrants to Washington, DC.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican considered a potential presidential candidate in 2024, recently ferried a group of about 50 migrants to the wealthy enclave of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. People on the plane said they were misled. Read more

Democrats have called the moves political stunts and accuse governors of using people as pawns.

Many migrants sent to New York are Venezuelans, whom the United States cannot deport to Mexico under a COVID-19 policy like it can for other migrants.

The Democratic-controlled city of El Paso has transported about 7,000 migrants to New York since late August, although city leaders say they are coordinating with New York officials. Read more

The surge in arrivals set a record for the number of people in shelters in New York.

“While our compassion is limitless, our resources are not,” Adams said, calling on federal and state governments to provide support. “We are on the edge of a precipice.

The state of emergency will allow city agencies to coordinate their response more quickly, Adams said.

Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, DC, declared a state of emergency in that city last month, creating a new office to handle incoming migrants. Read more

Reporting by Joseph Axe, additional reporting by Kristina Cooke. Editing by Alistair Bell

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