Mayor Adams Agonizes Over Choosing Migrants Over Current New Yorkers

Mindy Cohn

While Title 42 was set to expire this week, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily paused the expiration of the policy, granting an 11th-hour request from over a dozen Republican-led states.

Title 42 is a law currently enforced by the Border Patrol giving Border Patrol the power to stop people entering the U.S. in order to keep diseases out of the country. 

When President Biden became president, he continued to enforce Title 42, but Border Patrol agents were only allowed to expel migrants from certain "non-asylum countries" under his watch. Migrants without a criminal record who sought asylum from a continuously fluid list of countries like Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Peru, and Nicaragua are allowed to stay while their case is adjudicated. 

While fearing the imminent expiration of Title 42 earlier last week, Mayor Eric Adams declared the expiration of Title 42 might force him to cut public services as more than 1,000 migrants continue to arrive in New York City every week. The flood of migrants has created a projected $1 billion per year in spending to cover housing, food, education, and other costs for migrants.

"Our shelter system is full, and we are nearly out of money, staff, and space. Truth be told, if corrective measures are not taken soon, we may very well be forced to cut or curtail programs New Yorkers rely on, and the pathway to house thousands more is uncertain," Adams said in a statement made Sunday, according to Fox News. "These are not choices we want to make, but they may become necessary, and I refuse to be forced to choose new arrivals over current New Yorkers. I'll say it again—we need a plan, we need assistance, and we need it now."

The high court will hear arguments in the case in February and will likely issue a decision in June.

photo credit: Flickr