Democratic mayor Eric Adams wants residents of New York City to house migrants in their homes, as the city struggles to deal with migrants bused in from border towns.
"It is my vision to take the next step to this faith-based locales and then move to a private residence," Adams said Monday, adding that funding for housing migrants could be paid to residents. "They have spare rooms."
Adams's suggestion comes as the city continues to navigate housing migrants who have come from the southern border. The mayor claimed New York City has supported 72,000 migrants but can't continue to support all the migrants who have arrived. A report last week detailed how migrant children are throwing "ragers" in hotel rooms and staff, whose hotels have been completely shut down to house migrants, have caught children drunk and with weapons.
"We can take that $4.2 billion, $4.3 maybe now, that we potentially will have to spend, and we can put it back in the pockets of everyday New Yorkers, everyday houses of worship, instead of putting it in the pockets of corporations," Adams said Monday.
Officials in southern states have bused loads of migrants to cities like New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. The cities, whose Democratic mayors have advertised them as "sanctuary cities," have complained about the bus arrivals.
"Yes, New York City will remain a sanctuary city under an Adams administration," Adams said in 2021. In the last few months, however, Adams has said "there is no room in New York" for additional migrants and publicly blasted the Biden administration's handling of the border crisis.
He also started busing migrants to the suburbs after slamming Republican officials for busing them to his city. Democratic governor Kathy Hochul told local officials to not be "bigoted" and let them into their towns.
Some of Adams's plans are receiving national blowback. Republicans in the House drafted a resolution to condemn Adams for his plan to house migrants in public schools.