Last year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott began bussing migrants to New York City with the first bus arriving on August 31. This was after he started bussing migrants to Washington, D.C. to get the attention of President Joe Biden.
Once migrants arrived in New York, Mayor Eric Adams was spending money to house, feed, and provide legal support for migrants. Adams has said over 40,000 migrants arrived in the City from Texas and others made their way to New York.
On February 15, New York City advocates gathered to support several bills supporting migrants. Three bills were with City Council to protect undocumented immigrants and prevent them from getting deported.
According to amNY, the bill was aimed to restrict U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from working with local agencies.
The bills were backed by Council members Shahana Hanif, Carlina Rivera, and Keith Powers.
At the rally, Hanif said:
“I’m so proud to be working with councilmember Powers and the chair of this hearing councilmember Rivera. I know this is many months in the making, and I’m so, so thrilled to go face to face with the Department of Corrections, Department of Probation, the NYPD, and our Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and asking the tough questions,”
Hanif added:
“The deportation machine continues to exist. Wherein our city agencies, local authorities are continuing to work with ICE and fast tracking the federal mass deportation machine, and that is not right.”
New York Immigration Coalition Executive Director Murad Awawdeh said:
“We need to think about how we're supporting the asylum seekers and immigrant New Yorkers who make up over a fourth of the state's population. How can we meet their needs and ensure that the executive budget and state budget are equally investing in keeping families together and healthy?”
New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams recently criticized Mayor Adams as migrants refused to spend the night in another migrant shelter.
Speaker Adams said at a recent press conference:
“Rather than utilizing law enforcement to target asylum-seekers who may have been uncertain and fearful, I would have preferred to see the administration engage credible voices outside of their own officials to play a constructive role. We just have to do better.”
Do you think migrants deserve more support from New York?
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