Mayor Eric Adams Wants to Revoke New York's 'Sanctuary City' Status Amid Migrant Influx

By Cassandra MacDonald  |  May 15, 2023

Mayor Eric Adams seeks to revoke New York City’s status as a “sanctuary city” amid a massive influx of migrants.

Adams appeared in court on Thursday asking a judge to reevaluate the city’s “sanctuary” status.

“The law of sanctuary city was in place long before I became mayor. I’m following the law. As a law enforcement person, you know, we follow the law,” Adams said during a press conference. “We are now in court now, today, asking the judge to revisit this law to deal with this humanitarian crisis because, even when they decided to put in place that law, no one thought they would be dealing with a humanitarian crisis of this proportion.”

In 2021, Adams claimed that New York City would remain a “sanctuary city” under his administration.

However, over the weekend, Adams called the rising number of illegal migrants “a real burden on New Yorkers.”

Mayor Adams issued an executive order suspending the city’s right-to-shelter rules on Wednesday night. Under this policy, the city was required to locate private rooms for asylum seekers. This has led to hotels being overrun by migrants.

“No asylum seeking-family that has sought shelter from us over the last year has slept on the street thanks to our colossal efforts, but without more support from our federal and state partners, we are concerned the worst may be yet to come,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“With over 130 emergency sites and eight humanitarian relief centers already opened, we have reached our limit, and this last week we had to resort to temporarily housing recent arrivals in gyms. In an effort to mitigate those risks and find room within our shelter system, the city has temporarily suspended the policy surrounding timing for placements in shelters. This is not a decision taken lightly and we will make every effort to get asylum seekers into shelter as quickly as possible as we have done since day one.”

According to a report from the non-profit Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), “as a result of the Biden administration’s lax immigration policies, 61,000 illegal aliens have come to NYC over the past year and about 40,000 are on the taxpayer dole receiving housing, food, and other benefits. These illegal aliens are placing a tremendous strain on city resources and existing housing for the homeless is filled to capacity.”

“Mayor Adams estimates that the Biden administration’s immigration policies will cost the city $4.3 billion in 2023 and 2024,” the report explained. “These costs were not included in a recent FAIR cost study that found New York was home to 1.8 million illegal aliens which cost taxpayers $9.9 billion.”

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