New York City declares state of emergency due to massive influx of asylum seekers

The largest city in the United States has declared a state of emergency due to the huge influx of asylum seekers.

On Friday, New York Mayor Eric Adams issued Emergency Executive Order 224, declaring a 30-day state of emergency.

In the new directive, Adams called on all relevant city agencies to coordinate their efforts to respond to the asylum seeker humanitarian crisis and construct the city’s Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers.

The executive order will allow NYC officials to open emergency relief centers more quickly by exempting them from a number of review procedures.

The move comes as several US states run by Republican governors are sending thousands of asylum seekers from the southern border to Democrat-run cities in the north, including New York City and Chicago.

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Adams, who is a former policeman, expressed his, and New York residents', anger over the desperate “humanitarian crisis” in the Big Apple.
He said more than 61,000 people were currently housed in the city’s shelters, of which almost a third were children.

“Though our compassion is limitless, our resources are not,” said the Black Mayor of the US business capital in an address to reporters at City Hall. “Our right-to-shelter laws, our social services, and our values are being exploited by others for political gain.”

Adams complained that “thousands of asylum seekers have been bused into New York City and simply dropped off, without notice, coordination, or care,” with more arriving every day. He said given the overwhelming influx of refugees, their numbers will soon reach 100,000.

Adams called on the government to extend emergency federal and state aid to handle the continued influx of asylum seekers. He said the city projects needed to accommodate the asylum seekers would cost the municipality more than $1 billion in this fiscal year alone. The NYC Mayor also called for expedited work permits, a national decompression strategy, and a resettlement strategy to help relocate the many asylum seekers.

In reaction to the declaration, Renae Eze, the spokesman for Texas Governor Greg said in a statement run by US media that Adams should call on US President Joe Biden to stop the influx of refugees at the US border neighboring Mexico. "Instead of complaining about a few thousand migrants being bused into his self-declared sanctuary city, Mayor Adams should call on President Biden to take immediate action to secure the border, something the President continues failing to do," she stated.

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