Immigration coalition angered by New York mayor's leaked comments

On January 15, New York City Mayor Eric Adamor made this comment while visiting El Paso, a city bordering Mexico. This news was reported by the American press Bangla Press.

He said, busloads of immigrants from Republican-controlled cities Florida and Texas are being sent to Democratic-controlled areas, not a single room is empty in New York, the most populous city in the United States.

The New York Immigration Coalition, known as the umbrella organization of immigrant and refugee rights groups, has criticized the city mayor's claims that the problem of immigrants sent from Texas to New York City will be reduced rather than fulfilling his duties.

According to a statement from the organization, Mayor Eric Adams' newly released preliminary budget for fiscal year 2024 does not include any measures to alleviate the problems of immigrants and refugees. What he has said so far about the city's responsibility to the welfare of immigrants, the preliminary budget has proven to be nothing more than empty bully.

He is scapegoating political asylum seekers with his austerity budget.

The immigration coalition says the mayor has so far failed to address the asylum crisis for immigrants. He says New York can't afford to accommodate any more immigrants.

The City has had an affordable housing crisis long before new immigrants arrived in New York. The mayor's statement that immigrants cannot be accommodated upon arrival violates New York City's Right to Shelter Law. All New Yorkers have a right to a place in Temporary Shelter by law.

There is no denying that the influx of immigrants has put pressure on temporary housing. In order to maintain New York's image as a 'sanctuary city' in the face of growing immigrant influx, housing experts and immigrant rights advocates have suggested increasing the availability of 'Citifaps', or rental assistance supplement benefits, so that affected individuals and families can find housing.

The coalition said federal aid has already arrived in cities that have sent immigrants from Texas, including New York. 

Congress allocated 800 million dollars to this sector. However, the New York City mayor is pretending that New York City is shouldering the costs of immigrants alone without receiving financial support from anyone.

But the Congress passed this money bill in the month of December 2022. The bulk of the money allocated is for New York immigrants. But the mayor says the money he received is less than one percent of what is needed, which coalition leaders point out is not true at all.