Despite proudly heralding New York City’s “sanctuary” status regarding undocumented immigrants, Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has recently lamented the strain that the surge of incoming migrants has taken on the city’s resources.
He even seemed to tacitly accuse Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of racism for sending a relatively small number of migrants from his border state to sanctuary jurisdictions elsewhere across the country.
Of course, Adams himself used similar tactics to deal with the immigrants who have arrived in the Big Apple. First, he announced a plan to ship individuals into neighboring Rockland County, which drew backlash from local officials.
GOP County Executive Ed Day asserted that the mayor “never asked for an opinion” but simply asserted: “Screw you, Rockland County.”
Day issued a scathing response in a radio interview on the matter.
“Mr. Adams, you can try to run us over,” he said. “I will reach up and grab you by the throat for the people of Rockland County. Within that cadre of people who are coming here, who are not vetted, we have child rapists, we have criminals, we have MS-13. There’s a reason why there’s a process.”
Since then, Adams has embraced another policy — this time drawing criticism for reportedly displacing homeless veterans from shelters in Upstate New York.
New: 20 homeless veterans have been kicked out from upstate hotels – including the Crossroads in Newburgh – to make room for migrants bussed from NYC, per a nonprofit that works with the vets. Vets were told their "extended stay" was no longer an option.https://t.co/oltwY7kPZS
— Bernadette Hogan (@bern_hogan) May 12, 2023
According to Sharon Toney-Finch, whose organization — the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation — helps struggling veterans find housing, said that shelters receive more money to take in undocumented migrants than men and women who served in the U.S. military.
“That’s so unfair, because at the end of the day, we are a small nonprofit, and we do pay $88 a day for a veteran to be there,” she said.
A number of prominent New York Republicans were outraged by the decision to kick veterans out of hotel rooms in order to make room for individuals in the country illegally.
“This is absolutely inexcusable and should not be happening in America,” said U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY). “This is the result of incompetence and lack of compassion.”
New York Assemblyman Brian Maher issued a statement directed at the hotels involved that stressed “how important it is to respect the service of our veterans,” adding: “They really ought to think about the impact on these people already going through a traumatic time.”
