Eric Adams has become the worst nightmare of Democrats in Washington: a true-blue mayor who has to deal with the consequences of progressive ideology on immigration and isn't afraid to say so.
Adams took office amidst a mounting influx of asylum-seekers, who have a court-determined unlimited right to shelter, regardless of cost. In October 2022, Adams declared an official state of emergency in response to New York City's unsustainable immigration levels. The city's comptroller had estimated that providing shelter and services for the 15,000 migrants who had arrived in New York up to that point could cost taxpayers up to $1 billion in 2022.
But in reality, the city has spent closer to $1.5 billion during the last fiscal year, and this year's spending could swell to $4 billion. As of 2023, city officials were spending approximately $8 million every day to house migrants -- a mind-boggling sum, considering that New York City's deficit is swiftly approaching $12 billion.
In recent months, the famed sanctuary city has distributed fliers with deterrent messaging to migrants. "There is no guarantee we will be able to provide shelter and services to new arrivals," the fliers proclaimed. "Please consider another city as you make your decision about where to settle in the U.S."
Still, as of September, the number of migrant arrivals has topped 110,000, with nearly 60,000 still banking on the city for shelter and services, according to the comptroller's office.
"I don't see an ending to this," Adams recently admitted. "This issue will destroy New York City."
For months, the mayor has pleaded with the federal government for assistance. "The president and the White House have failed New York City on this issue," Adams has stated. "Why isn't every elected official in Washington, D.C., asking the national government, 'why are you doing this to New York?'"
But it'll take more than federal largesse to tackle the root causes of the migrant crisis. What's needed are real deterrents to stop people from coming here illegally.
For starters, the administration must stop its unprecedented use of parole authority, which it has exercised -- arguably illegally -- to admit possibly as many as 1.4 million migrants into the United States.
Congress created parole in 1952 to grant individual immigrants temporary entrance into the country on a case-by-case basis, either for "urgent humanitarian reasons" or for "significant public benefit."
But the Biden administration has twisted the plain meaning of the law, paroling illegal immigrants en masse. That includes plans to admit nearly 530,000 migrants annually through the CBP One App, plus 360,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
Once paroled in, migrants need somewhere to go -- and something to do. Just last month, the Biden administration extended "temporary protected status" to nearly half a million Venezuelans who've fled here as of July 31, which means they're now eligible for work permits. Such clemency will only encourage more people to enter the country illegally, in the hopes they'll become eligible to work, too.
Still, that hasn't stopped New York City's Comptroller from suggesting that the Biden administration give more migrants permission to work -- so they'll no longer be competing with New York's homeless for city housing.
Some members of Congress have tried to fix the problem. A dozen senators have sponsored a bill to restore the original intent of the immigration "parole" process. House Republicans recently passed an immigration bill that would, among other things, require all U.S. companies to use E-Verify, the federal online system that ensures recent hires have permission to work on American soil. Senate Republicans recently introduced their own version of the bill.
An E-Verify mandate would shut off the jobs magnet that is ultimately attracting migrants -- who currently either cross the border illegally or claim asylum in the hopes of receiving parole.
Unfortunately, many Washington Democrats still reject reforms like these as inhumane. But what's truly inhumane is allowing millions of desperate people to flood into the United States, where they overwhelm the ability of social services programs to care for them and wind up competing with the most disadvantaged Americans for housing and jobs.
Years of lax immigration enforcement have created a humanitarian crisis in the United States -- one that affects immigrants and citizens alike. Mayor Adams and a handful of his Democratic peers across the country openly recognize this fact. But to fix the problem, they'll need to convince their party in Washington.
Shakil Hamid, an immigrant from Bangladesh, lives in Gaithersburg, MD.
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