New York City Mayor Eric Adams got an up-close look at the U.S.-Mexico border situation over the weekend, shortly after filing a state emergency mutual aid request and claiming the migrants coming into the New York area had put a $2 billion strain on the city's finances.
On Saturday, Adams reportedly flew to El Paso, Texas — the same city President Joe Biden visited last week — and got a tour from El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser.
Leeser and Adams were photographed inspecting a chain-link fence at the southern border and touring areas of El Paso where migrants, who reportedly could not find proper shelter due to capacity limits, have been sleeping on the street.
The New York Post reported that Adams' tour was facilitated by the National Guard.
On Sunday, Adams, Leeser, and other El Paso officials reportedly discussed how to "band together to call on the federal government to take the lead on tackling this crisis."
After that, Adams had plans to visit local shelters and immigration processing facilities with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials before returning to New York.
Adams has opposed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's sending more than 39,000 migrants to so-called "sanctuary" cities like New York City, Washington, and Chicago.
He said on Friday that New York City's shelter system has reached its "breaking point." Earlier this week, New York's City Hall estimated it was taking in 400 new migrant arrivals per day.
According to the Post, Adams has demanded the U.S. government cover the cost of the city's shelter initiative, seeking $1 billion in reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"That money [from the recently enacted $1.7 trillion omnibus bill] comes from our schools. It comes from our public safety, our hospitals, our infrastructure, our ACS [Administration for Children's Services] services. Those are our tax dollars that it's coming from, and we got to see an impact in every service we have in the city," Adams said Friday during a Caribbean Power Jam Radio interview.
"And that is just inhumane on the part of the national government. And I really believe it's irresponsible, that we have not had a real national response to what's happening at our border," added Adams.
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