The mayor of New York City has declared a state of emergency, saying an influx of asylum seekers being bussed into the city each day from the US state of Texas is creating a “humanitarian crisis”.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, said during a news conference on Friday that more than 17,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City since April.
He said the city expects to spend more than $1bn by the end of this fiscal year on housing, accommodation, healthcare and other assistance for the migrants, straining local resources.
“This is a humanitarian crisis that started with violence and instability in South America that is being accelerated by American political dynamics,” Adams told reporters.
“Thousands of asylum seekers have been bussed into New York City and simply dropped off without notice, coordination or care.”
The Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has been bussing asylum seekers to Democratic-run cities in order to bring attention to the growing number of migrants arriving at the United States’s southern border with Mexico.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
