NYC Mayor Rips Congress, Warns New Migrant Surge May Bring 1,000 a Week

The first buses in an anticipated new influx of asylum seekers arrived at Port Authority Bus Terminal early Monday, with thousands more expected to flood a New York City shelter system already facing its shelter crisis in decades.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many migrants from the U.S. border with Mexico came Monday — at least two buses were spotted — but Mayor Eric Adams warned of a surge as that public health rule, Title 42, is set to lift within 48 hours.

Title 42, allows federal officials to prevent asylum seekers from entering the country during public health emergencies. The Trump administration invoked it during the height of the COVID pandemic, but with that threat waning, or at least becoming more endemic, a federal appeals court cleared the way to end it assuming no further court action.

Adams called on the federal government a day ago to manage the burden, demanding plans to move migrants to other cities, allow them to work and send aid to the metro areas that have “borne the brunt of this crisis.”

New York City says it has absorbed more than 31,000 asylum seekers, taxing its already overwhelmed shelter system to the brink. As of Thursday, the most recent day for which data was available, the shelter census in the five boroughs was just under 65,000. That’s up 42% year over year, an increase of about 19,000 people, city data shows.

And the situation is expected to escalate.

“We have been told in no uncertain terms that, beginning today, we should expect an influx of buses coming from the border and that more than 1,000 additional asylum seekers will arrive in New York City every week,” Adams Sunday, though he did not disclose the source of that information.

News 4’s Adam Harding reports.

“Our requests for assistance have been mostly ignored,” Adams continued. “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.”

A coalition of Republican states, including Texas, want Title 42 to remain in place.

Since April, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has bused thousands of migrants to New York and Washington. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, another Republican, followed suit soon after.

The New York City Council is expected to meet regarding its response to the crisis later Monday.