The first buses in an anticipated new influx of asylum seekers arrived at Port Authority Bus Terminal early Monday, with thousands more expected to flood a New York City shelter system already facing its shelter crisis in decades.
It wasn't immediately clear how many migrants from the U.S. border with Mexico came Monday -- at least two buses were spotted -- but Mayor Eric Adams warned of a surge as that public health rule, Title 42, had been set to be lifted on Wednesday.
Title 42 allows federal officials to prevent asylum seekers from entering the country during public health emergencies. The Trump administration invoked it during the height of the COVID pandemic, but with that threat waning, or at least becoming more endemic, a federal appeals court cleared the way to end it.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court granted an appeal Monday evening that temporarily paused the termination of Title 42. While the brief order blocks lifting the restrictions for now, it also leaves open the prospect that those restrictions in place since the coronavirus pandemic began and have been used to turn back hundreds of thousands of prospective asylum seekers could still expire on Wednesday.
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Adams called on the federal government a day ago to manage the burden, demanding plans to move migrants to other cities, allow them to work and send aid to the metro areas that have "borne the brunt of this crisis."
New York City says it has absorbed more than 31,000 asylum seekers, taxing its already overwhelmed shelter system to the brink. As of Thursday, the most recent day for which data was available, the shelter census in the five boroughs was just under 65,000. That's up 42% year over year, an increase of about 19,000 people, city data shows.
And the situation is expected to escalate.
Migrant Crisis
Asylum seekers are being sent to New York City with hopes of a new, better life — but finding obstacle after obstacle instead.
"We have been told in no uncertain terms that, beginning today, we should expect an influx of buses coming from the border and that more than 1,000 additional asylum seekers will arrive in New York City every week," Adams Sunday, though he did not disclose the source of that information.
"Our requests for assistance have been mostly ignored," Adams continued. "And while the New York federal delegation has repeatedly advocated for funding to be sent back to New York City, many in Congress — both Republicans and Democrats — have refused to lift a finger."
A coalition of Republican states, including Texas, want Title 42 to remain in place.
Since April, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has bused thousands of migrants to New York and Washington. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, another Republican, followed suit soon after.
The New York City Council launched its first in a two-day hearing Monday regarding its response to the crisis.
"Over the past several months, New York City has worked to pool its resources and accommodate the arrival of tens of thousands of new migrants. As a sanctuary city, we welcome our recent arrivals with open arms and will continue to utilize every tool at our disposal to ensure they can build safe, productive, and dignified lives," Speaker Adrienne Adams said in a statement. "This requires improving coordination and support services in a sustained way that helps all New Yorkers, which is the focus of the Council's two-day special hearing."
"With the imminent end of Title 42, we also must urgently prepare to meet the needs of more people seeking asylum who will likely arrive in our city over the coming days and weeks," she added. "New York City cannot do this alone and needs the full partnership and support of our state and federal government partners. The Council will continue to advocate that greater resources be provided to our city for this national and international humanitarian crisis, while prioritizing improved services and support for all New Yorkers, including newly-arrived migrants."
