Despite campaigning on a platform that included enshrining the city’s “sanctuary” protection for undocumented migrants, Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams has begun to sing a different tune as the Big Apple is forced to deal with a relentless influx of migrants over the past several months.
Months after declaring that the thousands upon thousands of arriving immigrants would “destroy” the city, Adams addressed the issue in greater detail during a town hall event on Monday.
Wow.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams is calling for NYC’s sanctuary city law to be changed so that criminal illegal aliens can be deported.
Democrats don’t even want to live under their policies. pic.twitter.com/izwPI95NrY
— Congressman Troy E. Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) February 27, 2024
Footage of the meeting revealed his assessment that the existing sanctuary city protections need to be amended in light of the current crisis. Specifically, he supported modifications that would allow such individuals to be deported upon conviction for a felony or violent crime.
Echoing the sentiment of Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, the mayor advocated for broader federal guidelines allowing migrants in the nation illegally to obtain employment.
Nevertheless, he asserted that “those small numbers that have committed crimes, we need to modify the sanctuary city law that if you commit a felony or violent act we should be able to turn you over to [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and have you deported.”
During the same event, Adams claimed that he had no authority to prevent the flow of migrants into the city from elsewhere across the country — specifically Texas, where GOP Gov. Greg Abbott has been dealing with the ongoing border invasion by relocating a portion of the arriving migrants.
“People tell me all the time, they see me on the street and they say, ‘Well, Eric, why don’t you stop the buses from coming in?’” he said. “It’s against the law. I can’t ‘Why don’t you allow those who want to work, allow them to work?’ It’s against the law, the federal law. I can’t. ‘Why do you say you have to house everyone that [comes] in?’ Because that’s the law. ‘Why don’t you deport those who commit crimes and harm people that are not doing the right thing?’ It’s against the law. I can’t.”
Coming closer than most Democrats to placing the blame on the Biden administration, Adams concluded by patting himself on the back for the way New York City has handled the crisis.
“So I am inheriting a national crisis that I have to resolve and we are resolving that crisis like no other city, folks,” the mayor asserted.
He seemingly attempted to rewrite history, erasing footage that clearly depicted migrants sleeping on sidewalks after hotels and other forms of temporary housing became overcrowded.
“Go Google other cities,” Adams said. “You don’t see tent cities in New York. You don’t see children and families sleeping on the street in New York. This team here has managed the crisis each time they come.”
