New York Mayor Eric Adams on Jan. 15 traveled to the US-Mexico border and declared [13] that "there is no room" for migrants in his city. At a press conference with El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser, Adams called on [14] the US government to help cities manage unprecedented levels of immigration, and claimed that the influx of migrants could cost New York City up to $2 billion. "The federal government should pick up the entire cost," Adams said [15]. "[W]e need a real leadership moment from FEMA. This is a national crisis." He also criticized [16] the governors of Texas and Colorado for contributing to a "humanitarian crisis that was created by man," citing busloads of migrants sent to New York and other northern cities.
But New York City comptroller Brad Lander dissented from [17] Adams' Texas trip, stating that it "reinforces a harmful narrative that new migrants themselves are a problem."
In early January, President Joe Biden introduced reforms to border security [20], allowing authorities to turn away asylum-seekers who try to enter the country illegally, while also expanding legal pathways for asylum-seekers. The US will now accept 30,000 migrants per month from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua and allow them to work legally. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk nonetheless criticized [21] Biden's approach, stating that the right to seek asylum "is a human right, no matter a person's origin, immigration status, nor how they arrived at an international border."
Pew Research reports [22] that over 205,000 migrants crossed the US border in November 2022. The historical peak of border crossings was 220,063 in March 2000.
From Jurist [23], Jan. 16. Used with permission.
See our last reports on Biden's new border policy [24], and the response [25] in New York City.
