New York City plans to distribute flyers to migrants at the southwest border urging them to “consider another city” as the city struggles continue to run out of space to house the migrants in its shelters, city officials announced on Wednesday.
“Please consider another city as you make your decision about where to settle in the U.S.,” reads the flyer, which adds that the city could not guarantee to “provide shelter and services to new arrivals” in both English and Spanish.
New York City Mayor Adams said that the main purpose of the flyers would be to “combat misinformation at the border” that the city is providing shelter for migrants.
Since April 2022, the Big Apple has received over 90,000 undocumented migrants that have made their way from the U.S.-Mexico border. Thousands of the migrants were bused to the city by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in an effort to fight back against the nation’s immigration policies.
Around 55,000 of those migrants are being housed by the city. However, with the skyrocketing number of migrants and homeless population in the city, New York is running out of space to provide housing as many of its shelters are beyond capacity.
“We stated several months ago that we’ve reached full capacity. We have no more room in this city,” Adams said on Wednesday. Roughly 2,800 migrants arrived in the city last week, according to officials. “We need help from the federal government.”
Adams has tried a range of other options to ensure that everyone in the city is being taken care of. The city has placed migrants in tents, cruise ship terminals, school gyms, and old jail facilities, and has even considered having city residents house migrants in their homes.
Officials also considered sending migrants to other New York suburbs to help alleviate the pressure.
Due to the ongoing migrant crisis, Mayor Adams requested to suspend the city’s “right to shelter” regulation that ensures safe and secure shelter for people who are lacking it.
The city does not have enough “resources and capacity to establish and maintain shelter sites, staffing, and security to provide safe and appropriate shelter,” Adams said at the time. The city expects the cost of feeding and housing migrants will reach $4 billion by next year.
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