Mayor Eric Adams says that an influx of migrants could cost New York City $2 billion. He wants financial help from the federal government.
EL PASO — More than 2,000 miles away from New York City, Mayor Eric Adams stood outside a church in Texas on Sunday surrounded by a group of migrants and told them he would fight for them to be able to work in the United States and to “experience the American dream.”
As the mayor’s words were translated into Spanish, the crowd began to clap and cheer.
But the mayor’s positive message contrasted with his difficult mission on his trip to the southern border — he is trying to increase pressure on President Biden to provide federal help to New York City, which is dealing with an influx of migrants. He is showing compassion for people whose lives have been upended while also insisting that they stop coming to his city.
The migrant crisis on the Mexican border has become one of Mr. Adams’s greatest challenges as mayor. More than 36,000 people have arrived unexpectedly in New York City over the past year, straining the city’s budget as well as its system for sheltering homeless people.
After weeks of calling for more help from the federal government, Mr. Adams decided to visit the border. His trip comes one week after Mr. Biden visited El Paso after announcing a new crackdown on border crossings.
Mr. Adams, a Democrat entering his second year in office, kept a busy schedule on his two-day trip to El Paso and sought to keep most of it out of the public eye. He met on Saturday with Oscar Leeser, the mayor of El Paso, who took him to visit an area where migrants often cross the border and a site where people were sleeping outside in camping tents.
On Sunday, Mr. Adams met again with Mr. Leeser, a Democrat, to discuss how cities can work together to ask for federal help to address the migrant crisis, according to Fabien Levy, a spokesman for Mr. Adams who traveled with him to El Paso. Then Mr. Adams visited Sacred Heart Church, a shelter for migrants, and another group that works with arriving migrants.
“The reality of the situation is that these migrants are being promised things before they cross the border that are just not available,” Mr. Levy posted on Twitter.
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