Co-hosts of The View commented on New York City Mayor Eric Adams Wednesday warning that the city would be destroyed by illegal immigrants.
During a Friday episode of the program, co-host Joy Behar said Adams' claim that there were 100,000 illegal immigrants in the city was "a little dramatic" and suggested illegal immigrants weren't "tourists."
Fellow co-host Sunny Hostin said she was "disappointed" in the mayor claiming illegal immigrants were coming from "war-torn" countries "looking for refuge."
“I think this country, with its big Statue of Liberty, ‘give me your weak’ and all of this, is supposed to be the country that accepts people,” she said, referencing $1.5 billion in funds set aside by New York lawmakers to aid the city. "Immigrants aren't coming here just to play around. They're coming here for a better life."
The panel discussed the issue of border security briefly before co-host Ana Navarro noted many immigrants were fleeing communist nations and suggested illegal immigration was a "regional problem."
“This is not a federal problem. This is not an American problem," Navarro said, criticizing Republican governors who have sent illegal immigrants arriving in their states to New York and other sanctuary cities. "What we need is legislation. We need cooperation with other countries … so not everybody comes to the United States.”
She concluded by saying illegal immigrants needed to be resettled "elsewhere."
"It’s only gonna get worse with global warming and climate change because people can’t live in certain parts of this world,” Behar added, saying Adams wanted the job and should handle the problem.
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, noting the city was receiving upwards of 10,000 illegal immigrants a month.
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.
“The city we knew, we’re about to lose," he said.
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.
