New York City mayor declares state of emergency over busing of migrants from Texas

Dozens of migrants, including several family units, line up to board a New York City-bound bus inside a shelter in El Paso on Aug. 31, 2022. (Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune)

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Friday declared a state of emergency to help handle an influx of asylum-seekers being bused into the city from Texas and other states who are estimated to have increased the number of people in the city’s shelters to a record high.

New York City had more than 61,000 individuals — almost 20,000 of them children — in its shelter system, including homeless New Yorkers and thousands of asylum-seekers who were bused there from all over the country, Adams said, according to prepared remarks published by his office.

Adams called for various city agencies to create and run temporary humanitarian relief centers that will house and help arriving asylum-seekers. He further called for emergency federal and state relief as the city expects projected costs of more than $1 billion related to the migrants this year alone.

“This is a humanitarian crisis that started with violence and instability in South America and is being accelerated by American political dynamics. Thousands of asylum seekers have been bused into New York City and simply dropped off, without notice, coordination, or care — and more are arriving every day,” Adams said. “This crisis is not of our own making but one that will affect everyone in this city, now and in the months ahead. New Yorkers deserve to know why this is happening and what we plan to do.”

Since April, Adams said more than 17,000 asylum-seekers have been bused to the city directly from the southern border.

Adams and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have been publicly feuding over the busing efforts. Texas has not provided notice about the number of buses arriving or dates and times of their arrival, according to Adams’ executive order declaring a state of emergency.

Earlier this week, Abbott acknowledged an email from Adams’ office — after saying repeatedly that the mayor hadn’t reached out — but emphasized that an invitation remained open for Adams to visit the southern border.

Abbott has spent upwards of $14 million sending more than 10,000 migrants to cities including Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago — self-proclaimed sanctuary cities — as a political statement about an increase in migrants at the Texas border. The mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser, has also declared a public health emergency.

The city of El Paso, where migrants have been arriving in increasing numbers, has also chartered buses to New York and Chicago. During a news conference Friday morning in New York, Adams reportedly asked El Paso’s leaders to stop.