"If you're going to leave your country, go somewhere else." "We
have to let the word out that when you come to New York, you’re not
going to have more hotel rooms.We don’t have capacity,
so we have to also message properly."
"The smarter thing is to apply for asylum before you leave your country." "[It was never meant to ensure] an unlimited, universal right or
obligation on the city to have to house literally the entire world."
"[Places like New York] really are at capacity. We have large
hearts. You want to be generous and supportive to people who are
experiencing humanitarian crisis, but there is a limit to what we can
do."
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul
 |
Anti-migrant protesters demonstrate outside the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on Friday. (Barry Williams for NY Daily News via Getty Images) |
"This is a crisis of their own making [Democratic lawmakers]."
"It's
very similar to cashless bail. When you create a sanctuary city policy
that invites migrants to come regardless of their status, you are going
to get a lot of people coming, and now they can't handle the influx."
Republican Representative Mike Lawler
"The No.1 thing I learned as an Army officer: When in charge, take charge."
"We are in a crisis, the president is in charge, and he and his team need to take charge."
Democratic Representative Pat Ryan
"Everybody understands this is a potential liability [the migrant crisis in view of an upcoming general election]."
"I
know there's been a lot of finger-pointing and kerfuffles, but there's
also pretty good evidence the mayor and the governor are trying to
figure out how to solve this."
Democratic consultant Tim Persico
 |
Migrants are pictured outside the Roosevelt Hotel, currently being used as a shelter, in New York City. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) |
In
fact, New York felt so desperately overwhelmed by the ongoing flood of
seemingly unstoppable arrivals who accepted the challenge from the Texas
border with Mexico to travel on to sympathetic Democratic cities like
New York, with its sympathetic credentials, they even bused them there.
And New York in turn convinced new arrivals they'd be better off
continuing their journey and to cross the New York border in Canada at
Quebec, to which purpose they too bused unwanted migrants to the border
where taxis were only too eager to bring them to Roxham Road where they
could foot it into Quebec.
There,
thousands of migrants, making their way to illegal crossings, ignoring
the legitimate crossings where they would be questioned and when
declaring themselves 'refugees' would be returned to the American side,
reflective of a 'safe first border' agreement between the two countries
where migrants were to be returned to their first country of entrance.
In bypassing the legitimate border crossing and declaring themselves
refugees, the RCMP escort them to an official Border crossing where they
fill out applications for refugee status.
And
then their accommodation and humanitarian social services become the
headache of whichever Canadian community they wander into, where their
numbers have created problems so great that many are forced to sleep out
on the streets of cities like Toronto, unable to support and house any
more migrants, and where their presence and humanitarian needs compete
with Canadian families in dire need of supported housing and other
public social measures.
 |
The camping migrants didn’t want to move out of fear they would lose their spot in line CNN
|
During
the current election season in the United States drawing ever closer,
migrants and the need to give them haven, despite efforts to restrain
them from crossing the border from Mexico, has become a conflicting
political issue moving to impact the 2024 U.S. election. With
Republicans increasingly critical of the Democrats' inability to stem
the flow of migrants, hoping to use the issue and the rising tide of
voters' anger at the disruptions to give them the political leverage
they need to secure the House majority.
New
York has seen a rapid arrival of over 100,000 asylum-seekers, wreaking
havoc on government budgets, and turning Democrats against one another
in their hapless efforts to stem the tide. Republicans whose election
status seemed less than assured in a half-dozen districts now view the
volatile issue as a lifeline. Where they point the electorate toward the
picture of a Democratic party incapable of governing adequately and
coping with the dilemma.
For
their part, Democratic candidates have clashed with their Republican
counterparts, but also with their own party leaders, President Biden
included. The lone front-line Democrat who survived the Republican
suburban victories in the 2022 midterm elections has made peace with two
Republicans, the trio demanding that Biden declare a state of
emergency. Paul Ryan broke with his party in support of a bill to
discourage schools from sheltering migrants.
Another
Democrat trying to take a neighbouring district spoke of the
"offensive" aloofness of the Democratic president, on the pressing
refugee issue. He was joined by a former Democratic congressman mounting
a comeback attempt of his own, warning of "consequences at the polls"
should his party not step up to a solution. The issue that drives them,
where almost three thousand migrants arrive in a week has shifted
battle lines.
 |
Migrants accept apples as they camp outside the Roosevelt Hotel. CNN
|
The
irony is that New York while a city acknowledged as a bastion for
immigrants has seen a challenge to its political system. It is currently
housing approximately 59,000 asylum-seekers nightly, reflecting a
unique right-to-shelter mandate dating back decades, while preparing to
enroll some 19,000 migrant children this fall in public schools.
Temporary shelters in hotels, parks, on public land have prompted harsh
protests.
While
New York City Mayor Eric Adams repeatedly warns of budget cuts caused
by the cost of caring for the newcomers which keep rising into billions
of dollars of taxpayer money that could otherwise be used to help New
Yorkers themselves, as the Republicans helpfully point out. A recent
poll found 82 percent of registered voters consider the migrant influx a
"serious problem", with a majority stating that their state had "already done enough" for asylum seekers and should focus on curtailing their arrivals.
"Let me tell you something New Yorkers, never in my life have I had a
problem that I did not see an ending to — I don’t see an ending to
this."
"This issue will destroy New
York City."
Mayor Eric Adams
 |
Migrants line up along 45th Street. CNN
|
