The Humanitarian Crisis: New York's Response to the Influx of Migrants

New York has received nearly 120,000 migrants in the last year, and hundreds continue to arrive daily in need of a place to live and work.

—Adriana Vargas Sino: It is an honor to interview you from Puebla, Mexico. Welcome.

—Mayor Eric Adams: I am proud to be the mayor of Puebla York, where 8 out of every 10 Mexicans who come to the city are from Puebla, including our commissioner of Immigrant Affairs (He refers to Manuel Castro).

—The Biden administration has just finally approved the continuation of construction of the wall in south Texas. What is your response to this decision?

—”Our team is figuring out what this means to know how to actually stop the heavy flow, but let me be clear: what I hear in my preliminary report of the pressure and the determinations of people not to do it through a legal route is finding a way illegal; and we want to do it safely, we want to delve into this policy and understand it to find safe ways for the United States and the cities and countries impacted.

—Is it the right decision for the Biden administration to continue with this wall?

—”This is what we must examine. Federal policies make those decisions regarding borders, they do not correspond to us mayors. It is federal policy.”

—Can New York receive more people?

—”We are literally out of space and capacity and when we get to this point we transform the American dream into a nightmare. It is not right for individuals, sleeping in congregate settings or for families.”

—Some of your critics say that they see no point in the trip, they allege that these days more austerity is required.

—”Think about this: there is a small group of people who always find creative ways to attack us in any decision we make regarding migrants, but here at ground zero we have been well received and people recognize what we have done. All countries Shocked when they have seen what we have done, they say they are impressed by our humanitarian response. There is a group of people who sit on the bench and shout at the players how to make a great play, I tell them to come and kick the ball.”

We cannot sit idly by

Mayor Adams said in the interview that contrary to what many are asking, it is not necessary to close the borders, but rather find the best solution for what he described as a humanitarian crisis.

“What happens in Darien, where children are hurt, where women are raped, others exploited. We cannot sit idly by,” Adams said.

“We have to lower the pressure on the border to see how 880,000 municipalities can absorb this and not allow a single city to bear the weight of a national problem,” said the mayor.

Over the next two days, Adams plans to travel to Quito and Bogotá before visiting the Darién Gap, an especially dangerous stretch of the northern route that many migrants travel, which is located on the border between Colombia and Panama.

Saturated shelters

New York is also resisting a decades-old legal agreement that requires it to provide shelter to anyone who requests it. On Tuesday, the city asked a judge to allow the measure to be suspended during a state of emergency in which the shelter population is increasing rapidly.

City and state leaders in New York, Illinois and other parts of the United States have asked the federal government to make it easier for migrants to obtain work permits, which would allow them to pay for their own food and housing.

Adams and New York Governor Kathy Hochul have announced $38 million in new state funding to help connect migrants with legal services.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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The New York City Department of Homeless Services counted 3,892 homeless people on the streets on one night in February. The figure released this month outlines one of the social problems that Bill de Blasio’s administration has sought to address.