A few weeks ago, New York City mayor Eric Adams claimed Texas and Arizona were sending waves of migrants on buses to the city. A CNN report not only confirmed that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent more migrants to the city over the weekend, but Abbott himself declared New York a “designated drop-off location” on his website.
About 68 people in total were said to be sent to New York over the weekend. In total, it is estimated that 4,000 asylum seekers have been sent to the city thus far. Families whose desired destination was not New York stated it took three days to get to the city from Texas, according to the commissioner of the mayor’s immigrant affairs office, Manuel Castro. Castro met with the asylum seekers, saying many “were hungry and thirsty, with small children.”
“These are families, these are people,” Castro said. “They have a right to be here as asylum-seekers and New York is here to welcome them. They frankly need a lot of support. They’ve traveled a long way to get here.”
Adams said, “families were forced on the bus with the understanding that they were going to other locations that they wanted to go to, and when people tried to explain, they were not allowed to do so.”
Also, from CNN:
“It’s unimaginable, what the governor in Texas has done,” Adams told reporters Sunday. “When you think about this country, a country that has always been open to those who were fleeing persecution and other intolerable conditions, we’ve always welcomed that. And this governor is not doing that in Texas, but we are going to set the right message, the right tone, of being here for these families.”
The migrants who wish to remain in New York will be placed in shelters if needed, while volunteers will attempt to assist those who want to travel to other cities where family members are awaiting them.
Gov. Abbott had previously bused over 5,100 migrants to Washington D.C, claiming President Biden has an “open border” policy. Abbott extended an invitation for Adams to visit the southern border, to which Adams said no.