New York City Official Promotes Migrant Benefits as Mayor Warns of Crisis

New York City has long been an epicenter for people seeking asylum, with two of its top officials expressing different sentiments about the local impact of immigration.

Mayor Eric Adams has been one of the more outspoken Democrats regarding the influx of millions of migrants crossing the southern border, many of whom seek and find refuge within New York City. Dating back at least the past nine months, Adams has been critical of the Biden administration's handling of the surge, labeling it "one of the largest humanitarian crises this city has ever experienced." He said it would "destroy" the city.

But New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, also a Democrat, has urged authorities to embrace immigration, highlighting benefits that include a boost to the economy.

More than 172,400 asylum seekers have entered the city since last spring through its intake system, currently accommodating about 67,500 of them, who have been provided a 30-day shelter limit to alleviate shelter overflows. Adams is expected to discuss the issue during his State of the City address on Wednesday evening.

On Tuesday, the mayor echoed New York Governor Kathy Hochul's call for more federal government intervention, saying: "The asylum seeker crisis is a national problem and it needs a national solution."

Earlier this month, Adams announced a curfew at four migrant shelters in Queens, Astoria, Brooklyn and Manhattan housing approximately 1,900 people, with the potential for future similar actions at other shelters, according to CBS New York.

Adams this month also announced a lawsuit against 17 charter bus and transportation companies in an attempt to recoup approximately $708 million in incurred costs associated with providing emergency shelter and services to migrants who have been transported by bus to the city. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has taken credit for helping to facilitate the sending of migrants to cities like New York, totaling more than 33,600 migrants dating back to spring 2022.

"Look, we've said this time and time again, this is not sustainable," Commissioner Manuel Castro, of the mayor's office of immigrant affairs, said January 2 on FOX 5's Good Day New York. "We had to do this because it's an emergency and a lot of people are coming in that have no idea what's going on. They were just given a bus ticket to come here or a plane ticket to come here and then they don't know where else to go."

Newsweek reached out to Adams' office via email for comment.

Lander has expressed a different sentiment to Adams.

Chloe Chik, his press secretary, shared with Newsweek a list of 15 different times the comptroller has publicly discussed asylum seekers and the immigration issue in relation to New York City. That includes six mentions in the past month alone.

"For nearly two centuries, New York has been a welcome harbor for generations of immigrants—and the arrival of asylum seekers today is no exception," Lander said on January 4. "In the last 20 months, New York City has readily received over 100,000 asylum seekers at a time when we did not know how we would recover from losing nearly half a million residents during the pandemic.

"Rather than shutting the door on new New Yorkers, our City, State, and federal government must work together to keep the tradition of embracing immigration."

In a January 4 press release titled "Facts, Not Fear," Lander touted the benefits of the 100,000-plus migrants entering the city and seeking asylum—including economic benefits, purchasing power, population increase and a safer environment overall.

He said that immigrants "strengthen our economy as workers, entrepreneurs, taxpayers, and consumers," outlining how immigrant New Yorkers are more likely to be employed and create jobs by starting businesses, and how they contribute billions of dollars to the local economy.

Immigrant New Yorkers paid $61 billion in taxes and had $138 billion in spending power in 2021, Lander said, adding that immigrants in New York City comprise 36 percent of its population and 43 percent of its workforce.

"New York benefits from each wave of new immigrants who consistently bring new energy, ideas, businesses, culture generation-after-generation, and an abiding faith in the future of our city," Lander said on August 24. "New York City stands to benefit greatly from this newest wave of New Yorkers, if we can effectively manage the challenge of helping them find stable housing, get permission to work, and begin building their new lives here."

While acknowledging the federal government can and should do more, including providing more funding related to local reimbursement for providing shelter, case management, workforce development and legal services to migrants, his office also notes that the present immigration wave isn't unprecedented and is indicative of a global refugee crisis.

"Though New York City has seen periods of comparable or greater growth in our immigrant population in the past, it is important to understand current increases in a global context," Lander said. "The world is currently experiencing a global refugee crisis—more people have been forced to leave their home countries than ever before."

Update 01/24/24 at 12:07 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Lander's office.