New York City Mayor Eric Adams reportedly called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to stop funding cities that are bussing asylum-seeking migrants to sanctuary cities. Mayor Adams made the remarks during a meeting on Wednesday, April 26th. He argued that federal funds should not be used to transport migrants to a city like New York, where it becomes a significant challenge catering to them.
Mayor Adams also allegedly directly addressed the matter when he met FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell and regional administrator David Warrington while he was in Washington, D.C. on Friday, April 21st. Adams asked that cities receiving funding from FEMA refrain from intentionally sending migrants to cities like New York and creating a burdensome situation.
“If you’re just a pass-through city and if you’re not sheltering them then why should you get the FEMA money?” is the sort of question Adams asked.
While Adams made a direct request, reportedly, he was not given a direct answer. Adams has increasingly grown frustrated with the asylum-seeking migrant crisis. He has repeatedly called for extra funding from New York State and the federal government. In a recent press conference, he boldly claimed that the federal government had neglected New York City.
According to reports, FEMA is preparing to release $800 million worth of funding to assist cities in providing housing for migrants. New York City has reportedly applied for $650 million of that money. With the number of asylum-seeking migrants not subsiding, the city will require all the financial assistance it can receive. Reportedly, over 2,300 migrants arrived in New York during the week of April 19th. Currently, over 35,000 migrants are under the city’s care.
This is not the first time Mayor Adams has called on FEMA to play a bigger role in the migrant crisis affecting New York City.
“We need a real leadership moment from FEMA. This is a national crisis. FEMA deals with national crises,” Adams said in January while in El Paso, Texas. “FEMA must step up and there should be one coordinator to coordinate everything that is happening dealing with migrants and asylum seekers in our country.”
New York City and the Adams Administration have dealt with a difficult situation since the asylum-seeking migrants started arriving in 2022. City Hall claims it has spent close to $817 million since the start of the crisis. The Adams Administration further claims that expenditure on the challenge will reach $4.3 billion by the end of next year.
