(CNN) –– New York Mayor Eric Adams on Friday declared a state of emergency to respond to the city’s immigration crisis, which he said would cost $ 1 billion this fiscal year.
“We now have a situation where more people are arriving in New York City than we can immediately accommodate, including families with babies and young children,” Adams explained. “When asylum seekers arriving on buses today have shelter, we will surpass the largest number of people ever registered in our city’s reception system.”
The mayor is also asking for federal and state aid.
The declaration of a state of emergency will direct all relevant city agencies to coordinate efforts to respond to the humanitarian crisis and build the city’s relief and humanitarian response centers. The measure will be in effect for 30 days and can be extended, the mayor told reporters on Friday.
Adams explained that New York City now has more than 61,000 people in its reception system, including thousands of homeless people and thousands of asylum seekers who have been taken by bus from other parts of the country in recent months. According to the mayor, more than 17,000 asylum seekers have been transported by bus from the southern border to New York City since April this year.
In the first week of October, the state of Texas had spent more than $ 18 million transporting immigrants – who were processed and released by immigration authorities in Texas border communities – to the cities of Washington, New York and Chicago. . Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, announced the program in April, acknowledging that taxpayers would likely pay the price.
“This is a humanitarian crisis that began with violence and instability in South America and has been accelerated by US political dynamics,” Adams said. “Thousands of asylum seekers were taken by bus to New York City and simply dumped here, without warning, coordination or assistance. And more arrive every day,” he continued.
The mayor said New York City’s shelter system runs at nearly 100 percent capacity. The city plans to spend at least $ 1 billion by the end of the fiscal year to cope with the influx of immigrants. Adams added that if asylum seekers continue to pour into the city at the current rate, the total population within the reception system will exceed 100,000 in the next year.
It also noted that 42 hotels have been set up as emergency shelters and 5,500 migrant children have been enrolled in schools.
“In the coming weeks, we will open a large humanitarian relief and emergency response center on Randall Island, which will safely house hundreds of people in New York after a long journey from our southern border,” Adams said. “But if we don’t take immediate action, that center will be filled in a few days. And we will have to open another and another and another, even with the arrival of winter.”
Adams has also called for emergency federal and state aid to handle the continuing influx of asylum seekers. “We got some of the help we asked for, but we need more,” she said. “We are on the brink of the precipice. We need a serious partnership and realistic solutions. As I said earlier, we need help. And we need it now. ”In addition to financial aid, Adams said the city needs assistance with accelerated work permits, a national decompression strategy that will slow the outflow of asylum seekers, and a resettlement strategy.
The city is also exploring a potential volunteer program for New Yorkers to welcome asylum seekers and the “homeless” into their homes.
“New Yorkers want to help and we will make it simple and easy to do,” said the mayor.
