NYC Mayor Eric Adams calls on Biden admin to secure border: 'National problem'
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss Adams' handling of the migrant surge and how she thinks he has 'incentivized' illegal immigration.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams shifted blame to the federal government for the border crisis, prompting raised eyebrows from some critics citing his own record on handling the migrant surge.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., joined "Fox & Friends" Monday to discuss Adams' visit and why she believes he is just as complicit in enabling the crisis at the southern border.
"The mayor is right in the sense that he's saying this is a national crisis, but he needs to say that is a national crisis created by Joe Biden," Malliotakis told Lawrence Jones. "Joe Biden put in place the policies via executive order that created this mess. This was not happening under President Trump. It was not happening under President Obama, and it has reached a record high."
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Adams visited El Paso over the weekend, calling the border crisis a "national crisis," while demanding federal aid to combat the surge.
"We are not pointing the finger at El Paso, we are not pointing the finger at Houston, we're pointing the finger where we should be pointing, and that's our national government," Adams said Sunday. "This is a national problem. We must have real immigration reform."
NYC Mayor Eric Adams visits a CBP processing facility. (Fabien Levy)
But despite agreeing with Adams' claim that change is imperative to mitigate the surge, Malliotakis argued his actions have "incentivized" more migrants to make the trek.
"The mayor also has incentivized illegal immigration," Malliotakis said. "You saw yesterday how people were saying they want to go to New York City with the mayor because they hear that New York City is housing the migrants, and they're providing for their needs."
The mayor has housed migrants at hotels in the city, and one of which, the Row, has reportedly been trashed at the expense of American taxpayers.
Massive food waste from the facility has prompted outrage, all while costing taxpayers around $650,000 per night to house the migrants at the once-trendy hotel.
There are more than 38,000 migrants in New York City with 26,000 currently staying in Big Apple hotel rooms, according to Adams' office.
"He's using New York City's generous right to shelter law, which was meant for New York City's citizens that need housing our own homeless, and yet he's inundating the system as well, and taxpayers are now looking at cuts in major fronts, fire and police," she continued.
Adams' visit comes on the heels of a mutual aid request to New York State to combat the surge of asylum seekers fleeing to the Big Apple.
"Since last spring, the city has stepped up to welcome approximately 40,000 asylum seekers, providing them with shelter, food, and connections to a host of resources," Adams said in a statement. "We have opened 74 emergency shelters and four humanitarian relief centers at breakneck speed, and done this almost entirely on our own."
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He noted the city is now at its "breaking point."
Former El Paso U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte echoed Adams' sentiment surrounding the claim that the issue is a "national crisis" on "Fox & Friends First" Monday, commending him for his visit.
"Mayor Adam going down there actually got a dose of reality," Almonte told co-host Carley Shimkus. "He's absolutely right. This was a border crisis that has turned into a national crisis."
"It's very unfortunate, and when is it going to stop?" he continued. "And this is a result of not having a plan to deal with the issues on the border."
Officials have encountered 718,000 migrants in the first 100 days of fiscal year 2023, with El Paso being the most active area.
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