NEW YORK (NewsNation) — New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams says he plans to erect hangar-size tents as temporary shelter to house the influx of migrants arriving from the southern border.
Thousands of migrants have been bused into the city as part of a campaign by Republican governors to disrupt federal border policies, and New York City has received the most asylum seekers in recent months.
But while city officials refuse to turn anyone away, they’re running out of space.
Most migrants are placed in city-run shelters or hotels and now with an estimated 13,000 migrants staying in shelters across the city, the system is reaching a breaking point.
The tents are among an array of options — from using cruise ships to summer camps — the city is considering as it struggles to find housing.
The first tent has been proposed for a remote corner of the Bronx, a parking lot at a popular city beach on Long Island Sound where public transportation is limited.
The sites will offer medical care, food, shelter and job services, and help migrants connect with family and friends. All of this is taxpayer-funded.
“We clearly are in a state of emergency when we are erecting tent cities,” said New York City Councilman Joe Borelli. “I think it’s also reprehensible that New York City, New York State, different counties are left to pay for this problem on their own.”
The city estimates it will cost taxpayers $1.5 million a day to care for the migrants.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, both Republicans, started sending migrants to Democrat-led cities such as New York, Washington and Chicago in April.
Both claim they won’t stop until the president secures the southern border.
But Chris Magnus, the nation’s top border official, said the Republican governors are luring migrants into the country with the promise they’ll find good opportunities in large American cities run by Democrats.
In Florida, a Democratic state senator filed a lawsuit to stop Gov. Ron DeSantis from flying more migrants from the southern border.
Desantis recently flew 50 migrants from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard. He’s accused of misspending taxpayer dollars on the flight.
The flights have also elicited uproar on the left and among immigration advocates. Some of the migrants have filed a class-action suit against DeSantis, other Democratic politicians have implied he has committed crimes and even a Texas sheriff has gotten involved.
“My reaction to the White House and all of those on the left that want to criticize Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for taking action, he had to because it’s where they failed,” said Rep. Kat Kammack, R-Fla.
But House Democrats are pushing back. In a letter signed by 27 Democrats, they’re asking Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to condemn the governors of Texas, Arizona, and Florida, calling what they’re doing to migrants an inhumane stunt and suggesting they should receive no help from his department in any way.
But there are no signs the busing and flying of migrants will end, because the governors say what they’re doing is legal and the right thing to do because they can no longer afford the cost of what they call fighting illegal immigration.