Eric Adams criticizes the Biden administration’s delays in approving NYC immigration
Mayor Eric Adams railed against the Biden administration on Tuesday when he again called on the administration to expedite work permits for the tens of thousands of migrants pouring into the Big Apple, calling the current delays “unacceptable.”
Hizzoner doubled down on his repeated calls for more federal aid and funds to stem the city’s refugee crisis – arguing that the Big Apple has been unfairly burdened with a national emergency.
“There’s no reason the national government can’t remain true to the core principle of the American experience of giving you the right to work,” Adams said during a rally outside the Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza.
“It’s unacceptable.”
In a speech alongside other elected officials, including Brooklyn Borough President Anthony Reynoso, the mayor said the Big Apple needed more assistance to handle the relentless influx of migrants arriving every day.
“As the city continues to evolve, it is unfair that a national crisis and humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions should now fall into the bosom of this city without support,” Adams said in the emotionally charged speech.
Reynoso went on to warn that the runaway refugee crisis could hurt Democrats in the 2024 election.
“We need these seats,” said the Brooklyn Borough President. “I want to be absolutely clear that this can be used against the Democratic Party during this congressional election.”
More than 100,000 asylum seekers have poured into the city since early 2022, and about 60,000 are currently housed in the nearly 200 city shelters spread across the five boroughs.
Adams sounded the alarm earlier this month that the migrant crisis is expected to cost the city a whopping $12 billion over the next three years.
“This is the biggest challenge our city has faced in decades,” Adams said at the rally. “We have to do it right.”
Elsewhere during his speech, Adams criticized “hateful” New Yorkers who he says pushed him to turn away the asylum seekers.
“New Yorkers, please don’t turn against each other. That’s what the enemy wants,” he said.
“This city is meant to show what the godlike spirit is. And that doesn’t mean we’re saying, ‘We don’t want these people’.”
Although he didn’t mention a specific incident, the mayor was attacked over the weekend by angry Queens residents protesting the construction of one of the city’s newest shelters at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center.
Phil Orenstein, a leader of the Queens Village Republican Club, had urged the mayor to “tell your president” to stop sending migrants to New York and instead “send them back” to Mexico and Washington, DC.
Adams was quick to dismiss calls for the deportation of migrants as illegal, asking, “If I do that, would I be breaking the law?”
