ADAMS TO VISIT MEX. BORDER
Says he’ll meet with immigration bigs amid city’s struggles
Mayor Adams is planning to travel to the southern border this weekend, his second journey to the region during his time in City Hall.
The trip will come as Adams has continued to chastise the federal government for not providing enough financial support to pay for the more than 180,000 migrants who have streamed into the city since the spring of 2022 — and just a day after hundreds of migrants were reportedly arrested for trying to rush into El Paso, Texas.
During an appearance Friday on “The Reset Talk Show,” Adams said he plans to leave the city Saturday night and that he’d be meeting there with national immigration leaders who “want to applaud what we’re doing and rally around us.”
“We have been really managing this crisis in a real respectable way,” he said on the “Reset” show.
The mayor’s critics would beg to differ. An official in President Biden’s administration told the Daily News earlier this month that delays in receiving federal funding for the city’s migrant response were a result of Adams’ administration not stepping “up to the plate” when it came to providing the proper documentation. That remark led to further rebukes from Adams, who argued the feds were the ones at fault.
Ultimately, Biden’s administration unlocked the nearly $107 million in migrant aid once the city finally submitted the required paperwork.
Adams has also come under fire for his team’s budget projections, which are closely linked to its estimates of how much additional migrant funding will be needed in the months ahead. The mayor has argued those more conservative overall estimates are a byproduct of being responsible for balancing the city’s budget.
Aside from a previous trip to America’s southern border in Jan. 2023, Adams traveled to South and Central America last October to assess the root causes of the crisis.
In a written statement issued later Friday, Adams said he was invited to the border area by Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande.
He added that he’s eager to meet with her and other leaders “to discuss our work in New York City and explore new ways to collaborate with leaders in cities across the country.”