The backlash against New York City Mayor Eric Adams was explosive. He took back what he said. Migrants, he insists, have been sheltered and will continue to be sheltered. He now insists he was only referring to the timing, when he said they don’t have the same rights. Since Joe Biden is dumping new citizens on his doorstep by the thousands, he might not be able to get them all a bed within the time allotted by the law.
Adams bends the rules
As soon as New York City Mayor Eric Adams made the statement that “asylum seekers aren’t covered by the city’s right-to-shelter law,” liberals got ruthless with criticism.
The backlash was enough that the mayor had to walk it back and do some fast explaining. The thought of leaving all those illegal aliens to freeze on the sidewalks has progressives horrified. Still, not horrified enough for Joe Biden to pay for their shelter.
Mayor Adams can only do so much with the resources he has. No matter what the law requires, complying with it under these conditions is impossible. For that reason, he continues to insist that “his administration shouldn’t have to abide by certain aspects of the rule.” Particularly, the timing.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, struggling with an influx of migrants sent from other states, said that asylum-seekers are not covered under the city's right-to-shelter law, which provides shelter to anyone who asks. https://t.co/PYIPxmqd6F
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) January 26, 2023
If a bus load of migrants pulls up at 10:00 p.m., he’s expected to have any families with kids checked in by midnight. The only way to do that is have extra rooms available for late night arrivals. He would love to, except he doesn’t have enough rooms for the ones here already. They keep coming and Joe won’t help at all.
Adams and his administration continue to operate “under the assumption” that migrants do not “fall into the whole right-to-shelter conversation.” Part of it, maybe but not all of it. Instantly, “a chorus of local elected officials and immigration advocates” called him out on it.
They argue that “there’s no distinction between citizens and noncitizens in the law, which has for decades required the city to provide shelter for anyone who needs it.” The mayor notes that’s all well and good but he can’t simply wave a magic wand to make shelter opportunities appear at will.
The numbers game
When Adams got cornered by reporters on Friday, he “acknowledged the law does not include a carveout for migrants.” Not yet. “Currently, no, it does not. Non-citizens come here and they have the right-to-shelter, let’s be clear on that. If someone comes here and they’re non-citizen they have the right-to-shelter, and we comply with that.”
They comply as well as they possibly can, he insists and that should be good enough.
He may be required to provide shelter but also, “he believes his administration has some leeway with nuances of the law due to the tens of thousands of mostly Latin American migrants who are in the city.”
1. Entered U.S. illegally thanks to @POTUS
2. Shoplifted, Arrested & Released w/ NO BAIL thanks to @GovKathyHochul3. NYC taxpayers are paying to house & feed them thanks to @NYCMayor
Democrats are RIDICULOUS. https://t.co/Cp6TlXMm78
— Nicole Malliotakis (@NMalliotakis) January 24, 2023
As Adams put it, “when you receive 800 people in one day, 3,000 in one week” it’s not humanly possible to shelter them inside the law’s guidelines. That’s the part which “falls in a different category when you’re dealing with a humanitarian crisis.”
He was a little vague in the way he expressed things to reporters, so his staff issued a bulletin to clarify. “The mayor was referring to the timelines by which people have to be placed in shelter under the law. For instance, a family with kids who arrive at an intake facility by 10 p.m. must by law receive shelter beds that same day — and the spokesman made the case that the administration will sometimes fall short of that provision due to migrant-related overcrowding in the system.”
Adams also has to deal with such picky requirements as “access to laundry services and a set amount of space in between beds.” Nobody liberal cares if it will bankrupt New York. The law is the law.
