Texas Governor Greg Abbott boasted about bussing migrants to Democratic-led sanctuary cities for months as the amount of arrivals to the U.S. kept breaking records. New York City, Chicago and Denver
NYC recorded the largest amount of arrivals, but it has also sent back many of those reaching the city. Authorities have issued over 4,500 one-way tickets to Texas for asylum seekers through a voluntary relocation program, marking nearly 10% of the 47,000 trips arranged since late 2022.
The initiative has sought to ease the pressure on New York's public services, which have been strained by the arrival of more than 200,000 migrants over the past two years. The city has also implemented measures such as work authorization application assistance and policies limiting shelter stays to reduce the number of migrants relying on city support. States like Illinois, Florida, and Colorado follow Texas on the list of most sought-after destinations.
"These are not chartered buses," said Fabien Levy, New York's deputy mayor for communications, contrasting the city's program with Abbott's initiative of sending busloads of migrants to various states, which NYC authorities have sharply criticized. "These are individual tickets we are purchasing after sitting down with migrants and hearing what they want to do," he added in a conversation with Bloomberg.
Since April 2022, Texas has bused around 120,000 migrants from its border towns to cities across the United States, with more than 45,000 of those migrants sent to New York City. In cities like New York, where a right to shelter is guaranteed, the influx of migrants surged. Mayor Eric Adams has attempted to reduce some of those protections, citing the strain on government resources, which he said is costing billions.
Still, Adams extended the lease for another shelter at Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field for another year, despite backlash from Republicans concerned about public safety and migrant-rights groups criticizing the site's suitability for families.
However, New York's shelter population has been steadily declining over the past month, especially since the Biden administration implemented a strict crackdown on unlawful immigration in June of this year.
The amount of migrants in the system recently dropped below 60,000, and Adams has pledged to close one of the largest shelters on Randall's Island by February. This site has seen sporadic violence, including fights among residents and a fatal shooting. Recently, new rules limiting shelter stays to 30 or 60 days left some migrants without housing, leading dozens to set up makeshift tents nearby.
The number of unlawful border crossings in September dropped by more than 70% compared to the 249,741 encounters in December 2023, reaching the lowest monthly figure of Biden's administration.
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