New York City Mayor Eric Adams continues to claim that it is “cruel” that Texas is sending illegal immigrants to his city. It reeks of desperation because everyone, including Adams himself, knows Democratic sanctuary cities are losing this debate.
The series of headlines from New York City and Washington, D.C., about how both cities are struggling with the influx of illegal immigrants has been a winning message for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey). It has shown that liberal sanctuary cities are all talk and that they can’t handle a fraction of what smaller border towns in Arizona and Texas have been dealing with for years.
Adams is trying to reclaim the conversation, portraying Texas as weak and cruel, sending away illegal immigrants instead of helping them. “It is unimaginable what the governor of Texas has done, when you think about this country, a country that has always been open to those who were fleeing persecution,” Adams said. “We’ve always welcomed them. And this governor is not doing that in Texas. But we are going to set the right tone of being here for these families.”
But why is it unimaginable or horrific or cruel, as Adams has described it? If New York City is so welcoming and wants to be a sanctuary city, what is wrong with Texas sending illegal immigrants there, where they will be welcomed into the “sanctuary” and looked after? Adams has said they are being forced onto buses, but he also said that several of them got off before even reaching New York City. Texas and Arizona can’t deal with the influx, so those states are sending them to places that can.
Except we know that New York City can’t deal with them, either. Just 4,000 migrants have entered the city’s shelter system since May, and that has been enough for Adams to call on the federal government for help. He called 2,800 migrant arrivals an “unprecedented surge.” In April alone, border officials encountered more than 234,000 migrants. Adams is trying to turn this on Republican governors to score some political points and distract from the fact that a few thousand migrants have brought the city’s social services to their knees in just a few months.
Adams is trying to put on a tough face, but there is no turning this around. Texas and Arizona are only taking New York City up on its offer to welcome these migrants. GOP governors have watched small border towns being overwhelmed for years. Adams won’t turn this into a winner by shaming them when the Big Apple can’t handle a few months of arrivals.
