Busloads of migrants arrive in NYC before the end of Track 42

Buses carrying dozens more migrants rolled into the Big Apple on Monday morning, although Mayor Eric Adams warned that lifting Title 42 this week would trigger an exponentially larger wave of asylum seekers and overwhelm the city’s severely overburdened systems.

Just after 6 a.m., two buses with about 80 people on board arrived at the Midtown Port Authority, with more buses from the border expected to arrive later in the day.

Photos taken at the scene showed the new arrivals, including young children, disembarking at the transit hub, some wrapped in blankets against the freezing temperatures.

The migrants were picked up by city officials and processed in an area cordoned off for this purpose. It was not immediately known where they were going next.

In an email sent to City Council members on Sunday, Mayor Adams’ administration warned that 10 to 15 busloads of migrants could be expected over the next two days due to the elevation to Title 42.

Adams said in a later statement that more than 1,000 new asylum seekers are expected to arrive in the Big Apple each week once Trump-era immigration restrictions are lifted.

Previously, Title 42, a health regulation designed to curb the spread of disease, allowed border guards to quickly expel asylum seekers at the southern border.

Since March 2020, orders to deport migrants from the United States have been invoked 2.5 million times, but a judge ruled that as of Wednesday, immigration authorities can no longer use Title 42 to summarily turn away asylum seekers.

Follow the Post’s latest coverage of immigration and Title 42

Instead, asylum officials must interview migrants to determine if they have a “plausible fear” of being persecuted in their home countries. If they are determined to face a credible threat, they can remain in the US until their case is decided, which can take years.

The Department of Homeland Security said last week that the US is not ready to handle “the current volume of migration nor the increased volume that we anticipate in the coming weeks and months.”

The end of Title 42 comes as rising numbers of migrants pour into the US, stretching the resources of border states like Texas and Arizona to the limit.

To draw the Biden administration’s attention to the growing crisis, Republican governors in those states have begun shipping migrants in busloads to Democratic-controlled haven cities like New York City, Philadelphia and Washington DC.

In his statement on the situation on Sunday, Adams, who declared a state of emergency over the influx of migrants in October, said the Big Apple has already taken in more than 31,000 asylum seekers.

“We have been told in no uncertain terms to expect an influx of buses from the border starting today and that more than 1,000 additional asylum seekers will be arriving in New York City each week,” Hizzoner said. “We need help from Washington.”

The mayor has accused the federal government of ignoring the city’s calls for help — and accused both Republicans and Congressional Democrats of not “lifting a finger” to help.

According to city figures released last week, the federal government has moved more than 21,000 migrants into NYC’s ailing emergency shelter system instead of moving them to other cities.