New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently claimed that the migrant crisis is so bad in his city that approximately 50% of all hotel rooms are being occupied by illegal immigrants.
“In order to address an onslaught, you have to have places you can put people. Almost half of all hotel rooms now are taken up by asylum seekers. Think about that. I’m not sure what it’s going to take before people hear what I am saying,” Adams said in a media briefing in Harlem.
“New York City is the hotel capital. We’re the hotel capital — tourism, visitors, sporting events, graduations,” he added. “It’s a major economic engine for us. Almost 50% of those hotel rooms are being taken up by migrant asylum seekers.”
Mayor Adams claims 50% of NYC hotel rooms are being occupied by migrants, and it's already hurting the economy https://t.co/pE1i207zpj
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) May 18, 2023
Adams has received criticism from both sides of the political aisle for his actions toward the migrant crisis, but some Democrats have accused him of exaggerating the issue.
“It would be impossible,” City Councilwoman Diana Ayala said. “The math doesn’t add up.”
Ayala was alluding to the fact that there are about 130,000 hotels in the city and currently less than 40,000 illegal migrants.
City officials estimate that 65,000 migrants have recently arrived in New York City, but many have been placed in public school gyms, emergency relief shelters, and several homeless shelters. CNN reported that less than 40,000 are currently living within New York City’s five boroughs.
Adams has also demanded the federal government do more to help his administration deal with the southern border crisis.
“Instead of moneys coming from people who are visiting us and spending and our tourism and our Broadway plays — instead of them using those hotels, we’re using those hotels,” he said.
Democrats have also criticized Adams over reports that his administration was seeking to place some migrants on Rikers Island, where New York City’s largest jail is located.
City officials are expecting a surge of illegal immigration at the southern border after Title 42, a Trump-era immigration policy, has ended, forcing the federal government to allow asylum-seekers to stay in the U.S. while awaiting processing.
