Can you be pro-immigrant while also acknowledging there is a resource problem?

This week on Nuance we discussed the battle lines being drawn over the migrant crisis in New York City. NYC mayor Eric Adams is being criticized for his recent statements regarding the migrant crisis in New York City. Is Mayor Adams’ candid acknowledgment of the budgetary and resource challenges posed by the influx of the over 100,000 migrants to NYC in the past year inherently anti-immigrant?

“Immigration is the New York story. It is the American story. But as I declared nearly a year ago, we are facing an unprecedented state of emergency due to the asylum seeker crisis,” said Mayor Adams. “Since last year, nearly 100,000 asylum seekers have arrived in our city asking for shelter, and we are past our breaking point. New York City has been left to pick up the pieces of a broken immigration system — one that is projected to cost our city $12 billion over the course of three fiscal years without policy changes and further support from the state and federal governments. Our compassion may be limitless, but our resources are not. This is the budgetary reality we are facing if we don’t get the additional support we need.” — NYC.gov As City Nears Arrival of 100,000 Asylum Seekers Since Last Spring, Mayor Adams Lays out Updated Costs if State and Federal Governments do not Take Swift Action

Since making this statement back in August, Mayor Adams has been on the receiving end of criticism from parties on the left and the right. Some  people on the right are saying that this is what New York gets for declaring itself a sanctuary city. While people on the left, who generally support helping migrants, are opposing Mayor Adams’ statements as anti-immigrant rhetoric. Some are even going as far as to lean on the Black Trump nickname.

More recently, Adams has said that without help, the migrant crisis in New York City is going to require some deep budgetary cuts, upwards of about 15% in total, to various agencies and essential services.

New York City is clearly strained for resources and space as images coming out of the city has shown asylum-seekers sleeping on the streets in mass.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has rejected Mayor Adams’ request for support from the state when he inquired about potentially spreading the migrants around the state. Even the Biden administration is shifting blame towards Adams for the migrant crisis as the mayor requests federal support.

While Adams highlights the tangible strain on the city’s resources and the potential cuts to essential services, does such transparency equate to a stance against immigrants, or is it merely a reflection of the city’s current reality? Is there not room for nuance in this discussion?

Additional:

• Battle lines are drawn in the migrant crisis. Where is the Nuance?
• Crucial NYC services may be impacted by budget cuts caused by migrant crisis
  Adams condemns Hochul’s handling of New York migrant crisis as ‘wrong’
• Biden administration officials shift blame for NYC migrant crisis on to Mayor Eric Adams because there is ‘no exit strategy’ to house them after they’re released from shelters
• As City Nears Arrival of 100,000 Asylum Seekers Since Last Spring, Mayor Adams Lays out Updated Costs if State and Federal Governments do not Take Swift Action
• Adams condemns Hochul’s handling of New York migrant crisis as ‘wrong’

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Nuance with Mike Scala and Jay Carter is a weekly video podcast that engages its audience through examination of current events from the unique perspectives of its hosts and guests.

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