As stated in a recent release from Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, New York City has chosen to temporarily house migrants in a cruise ship terminal to assist in dealing with the growing influx of migrants attempting to seek asylum.
Adams openly shared plans for the 1,000-person capacity shelter located at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal while issuing a press release this past Saturday.
“With more than 41,000 asylum seekers arriving in New York City since last spring and nearly 28,000 asylum seekers currently in our care, our city is at its breaking point,” stated Adams.
“We continue to surpass both our moral and legal obligations and meet the needs of people arriving in New York, but as the number of asylum seekers continues to grow, we are in serious need of support from both our state and federal governments. This fifth Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center will provide approximately 1,000 asylum seekers with a place to stay, access support, and get to their final destination,” explained the Mayor.
Philip Banks III, the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, also highlighted that the addition of this shelter is currently the fifth Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center.
“As the numbers and demographics shift, so does our approach. What remains is our focus on addressing their needs, providing them with critical services, and ensuring a foundation is there for them to begin building their new lives,” explained Banks.
The city has already chosen to open up 77 hotels for use as emergency shelters, set up navigation centers to assist migrants, and partnered to help children enroll in public schools via use of Project Open Arms, while also providing other forms of help.
Just recently, Adams paid a visit to the southern border out in EL Paso, Texas, and officially declared a state of emergency late last year due to the number of migrants flooding in. The mayor has repeatedly made the call for the federal government to step in to help, making the claim that efforts have been stifled by the Republicans of the state.
“Just a few days ago, I was in El Paso to see for myself how the asylum seeker crisis is affecting our border states and our entire nation. What I saw was not a state problem or a city problem. It is a national problem, driven by global forces, impacting regular people,” explained Adams as part of a speech at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in the wake of his trip out to Texas.
“Every attempt to deal with immigration on a national level through legislation has been sabotaged, mostly by right-wing opposition. And cities are bearing the brunt of this failure,” he stated.
“This is not an everyday homelessness crisis, but a humanitarian crisis that requires a different approach, and these humanitarian emergency response centers will take on a multitude of looks with the similarities that they will all help triage and provide immediate support to arriving asylum seekers. We will continue to respond with care and compassion as we deal with this humanitarian crisis made by human hands,” concluded Adams.
