New York City will temporarily house migrants at a cruise ship terminal to help handle the growing influx of asylum seekers, according to Democratic Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams shared plans for the 1,000-person shelter at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in a press release on Saturday.
“With more than 41,000 asylum seekers arriving in New York City since last spring and nearly 28,000 asylum seekers currently in our care, our city is at its breaking point,” Adams said.
“We continue to surpass both our moral and legal obligations and meet the needs of people arriving in New York, but as the number of asylum seekers continues to grow, we are in serious need of support from both our state and federal governments. This fifth Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center will provide approximately 1,000 asylum seekers with a place to stay, access support, and get to their final destination,” the mayor added.
Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III also noted that the addition of the shelter is the fifth Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center.
“As the numbers and demographics shift, so does our approach. What remains is our focus on addressing their needs, providing them with critical services, and ensuring a foundation is there for them to begin building their new lives,” Banks said.
The city has already opened 77 hotels as emergency shelters, set up navigation centers to help migrants, and partnered to enroll children in public schools through Project Open Arms, among providing other forms of assistance.
Adams recently visited the southern border in El Paso, Texas, and declared a state of emergency last year over the surge in migrants. The mayor has repeatedly called for federal assistance, claiming that efforts have been blocked by Republicans.
“Just a few days ago, I was in El Paso to see for myself how the asylum seeker crisis is affecting our border states and our entire nation. What I saw was not a state problem or a city problem. It is a national problem, driven by global forces, impacting regular people,” Mr. Adams said in a speech at the U.S. Conference of Mayors following his Texas trip.
“Every attempt to deal with immigration on a national level through legislation has been sabotaged, mostly by right-wing opposition. And cities are bearing the brunt of this failure,” he added.
Adams has also been a vocal opponent of Governor Doug Ducey (R-AZ) and Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) busing migrants to faraway cities.
Ducey’s busing program ended when he left office on January 2. As of mid-December, his office said it had sent 80 buses carrying 2,916 migrants to Washington, D.C.
Abbott’s busing plans have been more aggressive. Texas has transported more than 5,200 migrants to New York City since August.
In addition, Texas has bused 9,100 migrants to the nation’s capital since April, more than 1,500 migrants to Chicago since August 31, and more than 890 migrants to Philadelphia since November 15, according to the governor’s office.
The Daily Wire previously reported that New York City’s homeless shelter population reached record levels in October, with more than 60,000 people in its shelter system.
“This is not an everyday homelessness crisis, but a humanitarian crisis that requires a different approach, and these humanitarian emergency response centers will take on a multitude of looks with the similarities that they will all help triage and provide immediate support to arriving asylum seekers. We will continue to respond with care and compassion as we deal with this humanitarian crisis made by human hands,” Adams said at the time.