New York City's mayor is now requiring a little more notice before migrants arrive in his area.
On Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams issued an executive order requiring charter bus companies transporting new migrants into New York City to provide 32 hours' notice before arrival, along with more information about the people they're bringing.
The migrant buses are now only allowed to drop passengers off in one loading zone in Manhattan and only between 8:30 a.m. and noon, Monday through Friday, unless the city has directed otherwise.
Going against the executive order will be punishable by up to three months in jail, a $500 fine for individuals and up to $2,000 for corporations. And the corporations that knowingly violate the order could also have their buses impounded by the city.
Alongside Adams' order was a call from him, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston for immediate federal support to manage asylum seekers as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott continues to send tens of thousands of migrants to Democratic-led cities.
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The city is still scrambling to fund basic social services for the thousands of migrants arriving weekly.
"We need federal and state help to resettle and support the remaining 68,000 migrants currently in New York City's care and the thousands of individuals who continue to arrive every single week, and for Gov. Abbott to finally stop the games and use of migrants as political pawns," Adams said.
The New York City governor, along with other cities' leaders, has continued to call on the federal government to step in to shape Abbott's strategy, which Adams believes has escalated to an "inhumane" way of treating humans. A spokesperson for Adams said 14 "rogue" buses arrived from Texas in a single night last week, the highest one-day total recorded by the Asylum Seeker Arrival Center since last spring. And on Tuesday night, Adams's spokesperson said Abbott sent an "unannounced and uncoordinated plane" to the city, with no planning or resources ready for them.
Johnson and Johnston agree with Adams that this method of transporting migrants amounts to a crisis and that the federal government needs to ensure every city can manage it.
"There's a high level of uncertainty as we continue to navigate these crises that we're facing," Adams said during a news conference. "Gov. Abbott has made it clear he wants to destabilize cities and send thousands of migrant and asylum seekers here to the city…. It's my obligation and responsibility to find the solutions, even if we're not getting the help that we deserve from Washington, D.C."
