Samuel Case, FISM News
Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis is sending illegal immigrants to New York City, to the dismay of Mayor Eric Adams.
The move mirrors that of Republican governors who have been busing or flying illegal immigrants to “sanctuary cities,” like New York, Washington D.C., and Chicago for more than a year.
“We were notified yesterday that the governor of Colorado is now stating that they are going to be sending migrants to places like New York and Chicago,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a radio interview per Politico. “This is just unfair for local governments to have to take on this national obligation.”
“No city should have to make a decision if they’re going to provide for their citizens — particularly coming out of COVID — or if they’re going to deal with an onslaught of migrants and asylum seekers,” Mayor Adams said.
Governor Polis told Politico his administration has been sending migrants to their intended destinations for the past several weeks, but bad winter weather has caused a backlog due to travel disruptions.
The governors’ plan comes as the U.S. saw a record surge in illegal immigration in fiscal year 2022, with border agents seeing nearly 2.4 million border encounters.
The wave of migrants has caused turmoil in cities across the United States. Last month, Denver saw more than 3,500 migrants arriving in the city, prompting Mayor Michael Hancock to declare a state of emergency.
Meanwhile, Politico reports that some 30,000 illegal immigrants have been transported to New York City since spring 2021, largely from states like Arizona and Texas, where border towns have been overrun with migrants.
In December El Paso, Texas declared a state of emergency after experiencing an influx of more than 2,500 migrants in a 24-hour period.