New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the city would be destroyed by illegal immigrants.
During a Wednesday town hall, Adams said he didn't see an end to the problem posed by the influx of illegal immigrants flocking to the city.
“This issue will destroy New York City," Adams said. "We’re getting 10,000 migrants a month."
Adams said the city was previously receiving illegal immigrants exclusively from Venezuela.
"Now we're getting Ecuador. Now we're getting Russian-speaking [migrants] coming through Mexico. Now we’re getting western Africa," he continued. "Now we're getting people from all over the globe [who] have made their minds up that they’re going to come through the southern part of the border and coming into New York City."
"Everyone is saying it’s New York City’s problem.”
Adams said “every community” in New York City would be impacted by the influx of illegal immigrants entering the city. He cited a $12 billion deficit which would cause "every service in the city" to lose funds as a result.
“How many of you organized to stop what they’re doing to us?” Adams asked constituents at the town hall. “How many of you were part of the movement to say, we’ve seen what this mayor is trying to do and they destroyed New York City?”
“It’s gonna come to your neighborhoods," he warned. "All of us are going to be impacted by this."
The mayor referenced his 2022 estimation citing 15,000 illegal immigrants arriving in the city compared to current estimations suggesting the city was hosting 110,000 illegal immigrants.
“The city we knew, we’re about to lose," the mayor said, adding New Yorkers were "in this together."
Adams criticized New York City boroughs Staten Island, Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn for passing blame on the issue of illegal immigrants amongst each other.
"That's not the game we can play."
New York City was declared a sanctuary city for immigration under former Mayor Ed Koch in the 1980s. The city reaffirmed its position as a sanctuary city under former Mayor Bill DeBlasio shortly after former President Donald Trump took office in 2017, citing his 2015 campaign statements expressing interest in cracking down on illegal immigration.
In 2017, Trump signed Executive Order 13768, entitled “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States,” and threatened to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities including New York City. "Sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States willfully violate Federal law in an attempt to shield aliens from removal from the United States," reads the order. "These jurisdictions have caused immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our Republic." Critics referred to Trump's executive order as a "Muslim ban."
In February 2017, New York State Assembly passed the "New York State Liberty Act" prohibiting state and local police from conducting stops or arrests on "perceived immigration status."
The bill also prevented government agencies from inquiring about immigration status when an individual seeks aid or reports a crime.
