Groups of migrants outside a Migrant Resource Centre on 19 September in San Antonio, Texas. Economic chaos in Venzuela has contributed to an influx of migrants to the USA. Photo: JORDAN VONDERHAAR
New York City's mayor has declared a state of emergency in response to thousands of migrants bused to the city in recent months from the southern border of the US in a political dispute over border security.
The city expects to spend $1 billion to manage the influx of the migrants, mayor Eric Adams said in a speech at City Hall on Friday.
More than 17,000 have arrived in the city since April; an average of five or six buses a day since early September, with nine buses pulling into the city on Thursday, said Adams, a Democrat. Their arrival was straining the city's homeless shelter system.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican seeking a third term in the November midterm elections has bused more than 3000 migrants to New York.
Adams criticised Abbott for failing to alert city officials when sending migrants to the city, calling it a "manufactured crisis."
Large tents are constructed in a parking lot at Orchard Beach in the Bronx in New York City, on 27 September. They will be used to house some of the thousands of migrants who have been bussed into the city from southern states since August. Photo: AFP/ Spencer Platt
Abbott's moves are part of a high-profile campaign by him and the Republican governors of Florida and Arizona to put a spotlight on record crossings at the US-Mexico border in the run-up to the midterm elections.
They argue US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, had failed to adequately secure the border.
Abbott also bused more than 900 people to Chicago, while Texas and Arizona combined had bused over 10,000 migrants to Washington DC.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican seen as a possible presidential contender for 2024, recently flew a group of about 50 migrants to the wealthy enclave of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Those aboard the plane said they were misled about the trip.
Democrats called the moves political stunts and accused the governors of using people as pawns.
Many of the migrants sent to New York were Venezuelans, whom the US can not expel to Mexico under a Covid-19 related policy, as it could other migrants.
The Democratic-controlled Texan city of El Paso had bused roughly 7000 migrants to New York since late August, though city leaders said they were coordinating with New York officials.
Migrants from Central and South America were bussed from Texas to Washington DC, and dropped off near the residence of US Vice President Kamala Harris, in September. Photo: AFP/ Spencer Platt
The increase in arrivals had set a record for the number of people in shelters across New York.
"Although our compassion is limitless, our resources are not," Adams said, calling on the federal and state governments to provide support. "We are at the edge of a precipice."
The state of emergency would make it easier for city agencies to coordinate their response more quickly, Adams said.
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington DC, declared a state of emergency in that city last month, creating a new office to handle incoming migrants.
-Reuters