As New York City is trying to move illegal migrants into the suburbs, Democrats in El Paso, Texas, plan to bus more migrants to the city.
El Paso has set up transportation to send more migrants to New York City, Democratic mayor Oscar Leeser said Wednesday. Buses won’t leave until more migrants arrive. "We do have the transportation set up, but we have not activated transportation," El Paso deputy city manager Mario D’Agostino said. Tens of thousands of migrants are expected to enter the United States after Title 42 ends Thursday night. Officials warned last week that 700,000 migrants were waiting in Mexico for the lapse of the border policy, which allows border agents to turn migrants away.
Migrants will be processed and released into cities at bus stops, gas stations, and other places across the border. Local leaders, including in El Paso, have dealt with the surge of migrants in the past by shipping them to cities such as New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
Busloads of migrants sent to New York City in recent months have pushed the city to its limits. Mayor Eric Adams (D.) on Friday announced a plan to bus hundreds of migrants to New York's suburbs, angering local leaders. The city planned to house about 300 men in hotels in Rockland and Orange Counties, but furious officials in both counties vowed to fight any effort to flood their communities with migrants.
Adams announced the busing plans after he criticized Texas governor Greg Abbott (R.) last week for "deciding to play politics with people's lives" by busing migrants to his city, which calls itself a "sanctuary city" for migrants.
"Yes, New York City will remain a sanctuary city under an Adams administration," Adams tweeted in October 2021. He said in January that his city has "no room" for migrants.
Leeser said he plans to send migrants to New York to give them access to the "American dream."
"It’s not because we want them to go there," Leeser said. "It’s not because someone has pushed them there. They want to live that American dream and be able to go through the legal process and work there."