Despite previously touting their respective city’s “sanctuary” status for undocumented immigrants, a number of prominent Democratic leaders are expressing outrage over the influx of migrants in recent months.
For her part, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot denounced Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to preserve his state’s limited resources by bussing migrants to her city.
“I am, yet again, appealing to your better nature and asking that you stop this inhumane and dangerous action,” she wrote in a letter to the Republican governor.
Lightfoot later claimed that her city was “completely tapped out” and subsequent reports indicate that the police precincts have been transformed into makeshift shelters for undocumented immigrants arriving in the Windy City.
Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is reacting to the impact of the immigration crisis in his city in part by shipping them off elsewhere.
The Democratic mayor has similarly expressed frustration with Abbott and GOP governors for sending migrants to the Big Apple, but he apparently has no concerns about doing the same to suburban areas around Rockland County.
According to a statement from Adams’ office, at least 300 adult male migrants will be temporarily housed in hotels in Orange Lake and Orangeburg as New York City continues struggling to keep its promise of providing refuge to those who illegally enter the United States.
Earlier this month, the mayor suggested that it was racist for Abbott to send any migrants to cities led by Black mayors.
Ignoring his own city’s sanctuary status and the fact that he has also supported plans to bus migrants from one area to another, Adams said that the Texas governor “passed over thousands of cities to land here,” claiming that “no one should use human beings as political pawns.”
Rockland County Executive Ed Day has declared a 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 in response to #NYC plan to house 340 adult #migrants in Armoni Inn & Suites in Orangeburg.
Details attached. pic.twitter.com/7k5DjzgLjX
— rocklandgov (@rocklandgov) May 6, 2023
Orangetown Supervisor Teresa Kenny pushed back against Adams’ move, asserting that the immigration crisis requires leadership at the federal level.
In a social media post on the matter, she wrote that “to send these people to a location that is not equipped to meet their needs, is a betrayal of that often-expressed desire by NYC to be a sanctuary for them.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) similarly denounced the move, asserting: “Mayor Eric Adams must not send migrants to Rockland County as part of his plan to alleviate the strain New York City is under. Rockland County is not a sanctuary county, unlike New York City and its boroughs, and should not bear the costs associated with the Biden administration’s abject failure on border security and immigration policy.”
