Mayor Eric Adams welcomes Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to NYC with offer to sleep at a migrant shelter

Michael Gartland, New York Daily News
·2 min read
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NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams offered a sarcastic helping hand to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during his New York City stay, saying Thursday that the Republican could sleep in a migrant shelter “so he can see what he has created.”

Abbott, who has helped feed the migrant crisis in the city through a policy of bussing hundreds from Texas since 2022, was expected to be in New York for an annual Republican fundraiser.

His sojourn to the Big Apple is widely viewed as a window into the GOP’s strategic thinking as the presidential contest and national congressional races heat up.

Asked about the governor’s visit, Adams suggested Abbott lodge in one of the many Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers, or HERRCs, that the city has set up to accommodate the more than 180,000 migrants who’ve flooded in during Adams’ term in City Hall.

“I’m going to offer him a stay in one of the HERRCs, so he can see what he has created and understand how we are treating people with the dignity and respect that he should have shown,” Adams said during a press conference in City Hall.

“I’m not quite sure why he’s here and what he’s doing while here,” the mayor continued. “But he’s going to see how you can manage the crisis with coordination.”

For months, Adams has lambasted Abbott for failing to coordinate with the city in his response to the migrant situation and has blamed him for pawning off the crisis on city’s around the U.S. He has also criticized President Joe Biden over national immigration policy.

The mayor, as well, has weathered his own criticisms, with advocates pouncing on him for seeking to diminish the city’s right to shelter law and for the waits for shelter some migrants have experienced.

Adams has contended that his administration has been successful in encouraging migrants to find housing elsewhere by limiting shelter stays to 30 or 60 days. In January, he and the city’s top lawyer announced the city was suing 17 charter bus companies responsible for transporting migrants to New York.