Major Eric Adams and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott traded barbs — and blame — Monday following the latest arrival of asylum-seeking Mexican-border migrants relocated from the Lone Star State to the Big Apple.
Adams accused Abbott of being “anti-American” for “shipping” busloads of migrants to New York City in response to what the Republican governor calls President Biden’s “open border policies.”
“Be a true American,” Adams said during an unrelated news conference at Corona Flushing Meadows Park in Queens.
“This is a place where the Statue of Liberty sits in the harbor. And we say, ‘Bring us your tired, those who are yearning to be free.’ And that’s what these asylum seekers are doing.’”
Adams added: “And I don’t think anything is more anti-American than shipping people on a bus, 45-hour trip, without any of the basic needs that they have, or direction, or coordination…There is a humanitarian part of being an American and I think that there’s nothing more anti-American than what he’s displaying right now.”
“These migrants willingly chose to go to New York City, having signed a voluntary consent waiver, available in multiple languages, upon boarding that they agreed on the destination,” spokeswoman Renae Eze said in a prepared statement.
“If the mayor wants a solution to this crisis, he should call on President Biden to take immediate action to secure the border — something the President continues failing to do.”
Abbott’s office told The Post that about 100 migrants had been sent to New York so far.
On Friday, after 50-plus migrants disembarked at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, Abbott said he planned to continue the program indefinitely, calling New York City an “ideal destination” due to its generous treatment of homeless people.
On Sunday, Adams said only 14 migrants “got off” a bus that officials were “led to believe” should have held about 40 people.
It’s unclear what happened to the others, but Adams said Monday that some were “re-ticketed and went to new locations.”
City Hall later said they received reports that “nonprofits and church groups” have funded some migrants’ travel to other locations.
Adams — who’s said that the city’s shelter system was being overloaded by migrants — also said he’d be taking part in a conference call with the White House as early as Monday afternoon to get “the assistance that we need.”
“When it comes down to hotels, we have a requirement and a mandate by law as being a right-to-shelter city, we have a requirement to house within a period of time and we’re going to use every available means to do so,” he said.
“And that is what we’re doing and we’re living up to that mandate.”
Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton
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