By Germania Rodriguez Poleo | Dailymail
New York governor Kathy Hochul welcomed asylum seekers with ‘open arms’ and pledged to house them just three years before telling migrants to ‘go elsewhere’ because the city is at its limit.
The Democrat addressed the migrant crisis on Wednesday, warning that asylum seekers who arrive in New York City will not be housed in hotel rooms as they have been in the past.
‘We have to get the word out, that when you come to New York, you’re not going to have more hotel rooms, we don’t have capacity,’ Hochul said on CNN. ‘So we have to also message properly that we’re at a limit – if you’re going to leave your country, go somewhere else.’
It’s a stunning reversal from her statements in December 2021, when she promised to house and protect asylum seekers – before thousands of migrants began arriving every month from Sothern border states. More than 113,000 migrants have arrived in the city since last Spring.
‘As you know, the Statue of Liberty is inscribed. It says, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to be free,’ Hochul previously said. ‘You’re welcome with open arms and we’ll work to keep you safe… We’ll not only house you, but we’ll protect you.’
New York governor Kathy Hochul has warned that asylum seekers who arrive in New York City will not be housed in hotel rooms as they have been in the past
The city has a legal obligation to give shelter to those who make their way there, and mayor Eric Adams has desperately turned to a variety of city landmarks such as hotels, makeshift shelters and temporary housing as short-term solutions.
New York officials have been sounding the alarm for months over their inability to right the ship, with Adams cautioning that his office estimates the issue will cost the city in the region of $12 billion in just three years.
Adams has also had a change of heart regarding how welcoming New York should be to migrants.
Last August, Adams went to Port Authority to welcome a bus full of asylum seekers sent from Texas by Republican governor Gregg Abbot, who argued progressive cities should also bare the costs of the influx of asylum seekers crossing the southern border.
Speaking to reporters at the time, the mayor said: ‘As the mayor of New York, I have to provide services families that are here, and that’s what we’re going to do – our responsibility as a city, and I’m proud that this is a Right to Shelter state, and we’re going continue to do that.’
But the buses kept coming, and a year later, Adams is pleading for federal and state aid – asking a judge to suspend the Right to Shelter policy as the city struggles to find room for the 110,000 asylum seekers that have arrived since the Spring of 2022.
In May he made major changes to the 40-year-old ‘Right to Shelter’ law that guarantees a bed for anyone who needs it in the city, as his government asked for federal and state help to deal with the surge of migrants that he now says could destroy New York as we know it.
In July, he told migrants the city was out of room, and to said it would distribute flyers at the US-Mexico border telling newly arrived migrants to ‘consider another city.’
The city has a legal obligation to give shelter to those who make their way there. Migrants are seen outside The Roosevelt Hotel
New York City’s migrant crisis is expected to cost the city $4.7billion this year. Above is a list of some of the landmarks that have been turned into emergency shelters as officials struggle to house nearly 60,000 migrants in the city’s care
The Roosevelt Hotel, Paul Hotel and Paramount Hotel are among the hotels designated for housing migrants in Manhattan
Hochul’s comments this week come after her predecessor Andrew Cuomo blamed the situation on the Biden administration and warned it would hurt Democrats politically.
‘This was a federal responsibility, period. First and foremost. Not the state, not the city. Immigration law is a federal responsibility… This is a function for the federal government to manage, and make every city, every state do its fair share.’
He added that the Biden administration should ‘pay the bill for the cost of the migrants and don’t ask the taxpayers of any city to pick up the bill.’
Cuomo’s comments echoed those of mayor Adams, who has repeatedly argued the federal government needs to step and help cover the crisis’ cost.
Adams warned that the city’s services will be affected by the incredible additional expenses on the budget. He has previously stated the city is planning on cutting services such as library hours, meals for senior citizens, and free, full-day care for three-year-olds.
While officials have not revealed how many hotel rooms have been designated for migrants, hotel industry experts believe it’s as many as 10,000, as reported by The City.
The Roosevelt Hotel, Paul Hotel and Paramount Hotel are among the hotels designated for housing migrants in Manhattan.
Long lines of migrants, mostly men from Africa, are now often seen outside the storied locations.
The situation has already caused several demonstrations by furious New Yorkers.
Earlier this week, chaos erupted outside a Staten Island shelter for migrants as protesters tried to stop asylum seekers from moving in.
About 10 protesters were arrested on Tuesday outside a former Island Shores Assisted Living Facility in Midland Beach, where a crowd met migrants with chants including, ‘Take them back, Take them back.’
Footage from the scene shows protesters banging on the bus windows as they tried to prevent the migrants from disembarking and entering the shelter.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently dispatched a small team to New York City to help determine how the federal government should respond.
The federal government has so far promised the city $140 million to help, although the city has yet to receive any of that money. A city spokesperson later clarified that requests for that money have been made but the delay could be because of routine bureaucratic reasons.
NY Gov. Kathy Hochul’s migrant U-turn: Video reveals how Democrat welcomed asylum seekers ‘with open arms’ in 2021 – but TODAY she tells them: ‘Go somewhere else’ added by Caribbean American Weekly on
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