The Border Crisis II: New York's Mess
The Border Crisis II: New York's Mess
How effective have the executive orders been? Have migrants made it north to Syracuse? How has NYC Mayor Eric Adams and his administration responded? What will happen next?
As we begin the important election year of 2024, the issue of the crisis happening at the southern border is surely to be one of the more debated topics. With the issue making its way into communities all over the country, not just the southern border states, it makes for a potentially election altering subject. Citizens in Chicago, New York City, Denver and other major US cities now feel a fraction of the strain that the southern border communities have felt for the last decade. It has been reported that there have been 302,000 migrant encounters since 12/1/2023, equivalent to the population of Pittsburgh, PA.
There has been a bi-partisan effort to fix this issue, but congressional action is yet to occur. With states like California, now offering free healthcare to illegal aliens, it's hard to imagine that our representatives will be able to get on the same page to come up with an appropriate solution. You’ve heard the lines given by politicians before, talking out of both sides of their mouths, calling this a humanitarian crisis yet not willing to take the much needed action to secure the border from which these undocumented people are coming through. Sure these politicians will make the plea for the federal government to take control of the issue, but what exactly do they mean by that? Are they calling for a militaristic response to take full control of the border? Are they calling for the US government to assist the countries from which these people are fleeing to try and slow down the amount of people leaving them?
The demographics of migrants are changing. While many people from South America are still making their way into the United States, we are seeing an increase of people coming from the Caribbean as well as Africa. There has also been a massive increase in the number of individuals coming through legitimate ports of entry as well as illegal points of entry. This can be accredited to the current protocol in which our DHS has implemented. These people realize that with our country's current border enforcement and immigration laws, they don't even need to sneak into the country at unguarded parts of our border. Instead, they will simply flow in through the legal ports of entry, get “processed”, and sent to just about any city they desire.
How has New York Handled it?
In a press conference on 1/2/23, Mayor Eric Adams and his team once again played the victim of the migrant crisis. In regards to Texas Governor Greg Abbott sending illegal aliens to NYC, Adams said the following, “This is a mean spirited way of using people and disrupting municipalities not only in this region and in other parts of the entire country so we are going to pivot and shift and be prepared to send the right message to these bus operators, you should not participate in the actions of Governor Abbott.” The highly litigious Adams administration is now turning their focus towards the bus companies that are delivering these illegals to NYC.
Mayor Adams plays into the humanitarian aspect of the issue by pointing fingers and claiming Governor Abbott is using the illegal aliens as “pawns” in a political game with little recognition that they are human beings. Adams says Abbott’s actions are all in an effort to force the federal government's hand in securing the border. Does the NYC Mayor think these people are being forced onto buses to be sent to his city? Does he not realize that these people are coming into the country with the understanding that they can be sent to just about any US city they desire? Does he not realize that his city's policies make NYC a more attractive destination for these migrants?
Lisa Zornberg, Chief Counsel to Mayor Eric Adams, said “What Texas is doing is bonkers.” “He (Governor Abbott) will not stop until national immigration policy is changed.” Zornberg went on to say that “ghost buses” are coming to NYC without any warning or communication from the state of Texas. Now, NYC has issued an executive order demanding for 32 hours notice of buses full of illegal aliens coming to NYC. Since giving the EO, not one bus from Texas has complied, according to Zornberg. “The bus companies themselves really need to take notice that they are exposing themselves if they purposely seek to evade this executive order and harm New York City by participating in what really is a bad faith plan at this point.”
At one point during the conference, a member of Adams’ team, Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabian Levy, compared Governor Abbott to the Joker and said “he can't be reasoned with, he can't be negotiated with, he just wants to watch this country burn.” When statements like this are made, I can't help but wonder why Levy thinks Governor Abbott wants to destroy this country and not the Biden administration who refuses to address the porous border? Does Levy not understand that what Abbott is doing is simply giving non-border, democrat sanctuary cities a taste of what the state of Texas has had to deal with because the federal government, the Biden administration, is allowing it to happen? Adams does acknowledge that “The national government must fix this problem.” He went on to say “No city should be going through this, and it's not sustainable.” Why doesn't he come out and say that he supports the state of Texas and what they are trying to do, which is getting the attention of the federal government to fix this problem? It is more than likely due to the fact that it would not bode well with him within his party. Again, here we are with politics playing a role in the refusal to properly address the issue.
Adams admits that there are a number of migrants who have committed crimes, but also states that “people of all walks of life” commit crimes. He fails to acknowledge that those crimes would have been avoided if the migrants were not in the city in the first place.
In rather political fashion, Adams defended being a sanctuary city by saying that the people coming through the Southern border to NYC aren't in the United States illegally, therefore they do not fall under the category of undocumented, illegal or refugees. Thus, New York City’s sanctuary city status is irrelevant to these “migrants” being bused to NYC. The Mayor went on to say that the migrants are “paroled” into this country so that means that this issue isn't about being a sanctuary city. By the migrants being “paroled” into the country, they are “legally” allowed to be here. “The answer is for our national government to resolve this issue.” Mayor Adams went on to differentiate “right to shelter” and “sanctuary city.” Adams states that he never said anything negative about sanctuary cities, but says that the “right to shelter” law was never intended for this issue. The Adams administration claimed that terms “sanctuary city” and “right to shelter” have been conflated by Governor Abbott and members of the media. Adams then says that members of the media “have been mean” to his administration on this issue by reporting the contradictory nature of their actions and statements.
“We need the support on the state level to make sure that we can manage this crisis that is impacting the economic engine of the state, which is New York City.”
- Mayor Adams on help from NYS for services for migrants
Interestingly, Mayor Adams stated during the press conference that county and town officials in other municipalities in upstate NY are not upset with migrants being sent into their communities, but just want them to be able to work. Adams stated that towns and counties in New York State that are issuing executive orders to prevent buses of immigrants coming into their communities are “joining their team.” “The one that was issued (referring to the Clarkstown, NY executive order), he [Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann] doesn't realize it but he joined our team. We want everyone else to do what he’s doing so he’s- he blames me that he’s issuing the EO and actually he can blame me as much as he wants, just get more EOs, call others as well.” Erika Moschettie, the communications coordinator for George Hoehmann of Clarkstown, NY has yet to provide comment. Chief of Staff for Mayor Adams, Camille Joseph Varlack stated “300 families that are ready and willing to relocate upstate.” Now, we know there have been plenty of headlines about migrants being sent to locations upstate and it seems there are families ready to go, but how many have actually been sent and to where?
Tompkins Square Park, East Village NYC
The former St. Brigid School on East 7th Street in NYC has been turned into a migrant housing facility. With the facility only being able to hold 150-200 people at a time, an extremely long line of migrants, that wraps around the block, are left waiting outside for hours on end. A security guard told me, “1,700” migrants come to this location each day. The facility closes at 9pm and the people are sent back to a location in Queens until they reopen the next day at 9am. According to a security guard, people start forming a line at 4am and wait until the facility opens at 9am. When asked if they have been told to avoid a media presence there, the security guard told me via hidden recorded footage, “Yeah. I mean, they can come and do what they want but we don't talk to them.” It has been reported that a fight broke out at this location on 1/6/2024 after there was a confrontation about someone cutting the line.
Syracuse and the Candlewood Suites Situation
When asked about the executive order that was issued back in May of 2023, Justin Sayles, the Executive Communications Director for Onondaga County as well as County Executive Ryan McMahon, said, “there was never an executive order that banned anything.” He continued, “the executive order is in effect, but that's [banning other localities to contract with businesses within Onondaga County to transport or house illegal aliens] not what it calls for. What the executive order said is that, essentially, if New York City is to send migrants to Onondaga County, they need to work with us, the government that is responsible for, subsequently, housing, feeding, etcetera these individuals. They can't just, quite frankly inhumanly, drop them off at a hotel and call it a day.” Sayles also said that reports that say Onondaga County banned anything is “not accurate.”
Having visited the Candlewood Suites Syracuse Airport Hotel on South Bay Road in Salina myself, it is not currently being used as a housing facility for illegal aliens and Sayles confirms it never did. After being asked if Onondaga County had ever been contacted by New York City about illegal aliens possibly being bused up to them or if there has ever physically been any illegal aliens from NYC in OC, Sayles said, “Not to our knowledge. New York City has not reached out.” He went on to say, “last I knew there was a lawsuit somewhere in the works that New York City had launched against a bunch of municipalities including ourselves regarding this. Since the executive order was put into place, no, NYC has not reached out in an attempt to coordinate potentially relocating migrants to Onondaga County.”
Sayles also pointed out how NYC Mayor Eric Adams is currently acting in contradiction to what he had previously done regarding Onondaga County’s EO. Back when Onondaga County issued their EO, NYC and Mayor Adams initiated litigation with them over it. Now, NYC and Adams are doing the same with the State of Texas and Governor Abbott.
“It’s interesting that he [Mayor Adams] adopted the same mentality that several local governments throughout NYS have adopted that he took issue with.”
- Executive Communications Director for Onondaga County, Justin Sayles on Mayor Adams pleading for County Executives to issue EOs
Where do we go from here?
It will be interesting to see how much is done between now and the 2024 Presidential Election. Voters in regions previously unaffected by border policies now have more of a reason to vote for a candidate. Democrats have historically been more in favor of liberal border enforcement as well as appealing to the humanitarian aspect of allowing people into the county for a better life. Republicans tout themselves as the party of law and order and strict border security as well as immigration policies. While there has been a bipartisan effort to address the issues at the border, it is likely that with an important presidential election approaching, elected officials will be less likely to cross party lines to ensure they remain in good company within their party.
An aspect of the border crisis that is contradictory to the democrats claim of being humanitarians is that with current Border Patrol enforcement protocols, officers spend majority of their efforts and time attempting to prevent or save border crossers from the dangerous situations they put themselves in. With many of these illegal border crossers coming to the US because of the policies the Biden Administration has put into place, the administration is indirectly putting these people in such dangerous situations. How about forcing Mexico to address this issue? They are allowing large numbers of people to make their way through their county to eventually reach the US border. Under the Trump Administration, there was a “Remain-in-Mexico” policy that was intended to de-incentivize migrants from coming to the US because they would have to remain in Mexico for their immigration court date rather than being released into the US, which is what is currently going on. The Mexican government has seemingly made no effort in restricting the flow of migrants from other countries making their way to the US/Mexico border.
There is no sign of slowing down when it comes to the numbers of migrants coming through the border. With the Texas Governor continuing to bus illegals to locations across the country and these cities not being well-suited for it, a boiling point is approaching. Hopefully we, as a county, can see our elected officials feel the pressure from their constituents to finally act and properly address this issue not only for the sake of the American public, but also to put an end to the inhumane abominations occurring at our border at the hands of criminal enterprises. Stay tuned for further updates to this ongoing investigation into how NYC and NYS handle the illegal migrant crisis.