(The Center Square) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams is urging asylum seekers not to come to the Big Apple as the city struggles to absorb tens of thousands of migrants.
Adams told reporters on Wednesday that the city plans to distribute flyers on the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a new marketing campaign to dissuade new arrivals from settling in the city.
“There is no guarantee we will be able to provide shelter and services to new arrivals,” the flyers read. “Please consider another city as you make your decision about where to settle in the U.S.”
Adams said the city also plans to remove single adult asylum seekers from its shelter system after 60 days, requiring them to reapply for emergency housing. He said the move is needed to free up space in the city’s shelter system for migrant families with children.
“We stated several months ago that we’ve reached full capacity,” Adams said in remarks on Wednesday. “We have no more room in this city.”
Over 90,000 migrants have come through New York City in the past year amid a surge of immigration along the southern border. The city is providing housing, food and other necessities for more than 50,000 migrants, which Adams says has pushed the emergency shelter system to the brink.
While the Biden administration has reported a 70% decrease in illegal border crossings since Title 42 was lifted in early May, Adams said the city has seen no slow down with an average of 2,500 people arriving daily.
Republican governors in border states have been critical of the Biden administration’s response to the surge. They’ve been sending groups of undocumented immigrants to Democratic strongholds in Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston and Chicago.
In response to the migrant crisis, the Adams administration has opened more than 180 emergency shelters in city-owned buildings, hotels and other locations and 13 humanitarian relief centers serving as processing centers for new arrivals.
NYC officials say it costs about $385 a night to house and feed a migrant family, and one of the city’s shelters is currently home to more than 53,000 asylum seekers.
The city expects to spend more than $4 billion caring for migrants over the next two years. Adams has called for more state and federal funding to deal with the surge of migrants.
Meanwhile, Adams has lost a round in court in his administration’s lawsuit against 30 counties that have enacted local bans for the relocation of asylum seekers.
On Wednesday, a state judge granted a venue change requested by defendants in the legal challenge that will allow the cases to be heard in several upstate counties.
