Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

New York City mayor heads to Latin America with message for asylum seekers: 'We are at capacity'

New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks in New York's Times Square during a news conference, Dec. 30, 2022. On Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, Adams said he will travel to Latin America to discourage people from seeking asylum in the city as it struggles to handle a massive influx of migrants that have overwhelmed its shelter system and strained financial resources. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File) New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks in New York's Times Square during a news conference, Dec. 30, 2022. On Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, Adams said he will travel to Latin America to discourage people from seeking asylum in the city as it struggles to handle a massive influx of migrants that have overwhelmed its shelter system and strained financial resources. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
Share
ALBANY, N.Y. -

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday said he will travel to Latin America to discourage people from seeking asylum in the city as it struggles to handle a massive influx of migrants that have overwhelmed its shelter system and strained financial resources.

The Democratic mayor is set to visit Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia during a four-day trip this week. The city has absorbed almost 120,000 migrants over the past year, with hundreds still arriving daily in need of housing and employment.

"We want to give an honest assessment of what we are experiencing here in this city," said Adams. "We are at capacity."

"We're going to tell them that coming to New York doesn't mean you're going to stay in a five-star hotel. It doesn't mean that, the mere fact that you come here, you automatically are going to be allowed to work," he said.

Adams has made a series of urgent pleas for a shift in federal immigration policy and for funding to help the city manage the arrival of migrants, which he said could cost the city US$12 billion as it rents space at hotels, erects new emergency shelters and provides various government services for asylum seekers.

The trip will begin Wednesday in Mexico, where Adams will attend the North Capital Forum and meet with government officials. He will then travel to Quito, Ecuador, for additional meetings before he heads to Bogota, Colombia and eventually to the Darien Gap, a dangerous section of the route many migrants pass through on their way to the U.S.

Adams has recently moved to tighten New York shelter rules by limiting adult migrants to just 30 days in city-run facilities amid overcrowding. The city is also resisting a court ruling that requires it to provide shelter to anyone who requests it.

City and state leaders in New York, Illinois and elsewhere have urged the federal government to make it easier for migrants to get work permits, which would allow them to pay for food and housing.

The Biden administration last month took a step toward complying with the demand by extending a temporary legal status to an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans in the U.S., which will make it easier for them to get work authorization. Adams and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have announced US$38 million in new state funding to help connect migrants with legal services.

Still, expediting work permits for migrants in general would take an act of Congress to shorten the mandatory six-month waiting period for work permits for asylum-seekers who cross the border illegally. With divided control of Congress, such legislation appears unlikely.

Chicago is also planning to send a delegation to the Texas border with Mexico to meet with government officials and nongovernmental organizations, and give migrants a more realistic portrayal of what they might expect in Chicago.

Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Mayor Brandon Johnson's first deputy chief of staff, said the Texas border trip will be used, in part, to warn migrants about Chicago winters.

"We want to manage the number of people that are coming and staying in Chicago," she said.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Debate gets testy as MPs consider confidence motion in PM Trudeau

MPs debated the first non-confidence motion of the fall House of Commons sitting today, seeing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre push once again for a snap election. But with votes secured to keep them afloat, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals were quick to turn the discussion into a referendum on the Conservative alternative.

A city councillor in British Columbia says an online mob of "extremists" and "politically motivated hackers" is responsible for uncovering and publicizing a photo of him wearing a blackface costume to a Halloween party in 2007.

After Ontario Premier Doug Ford made controversial comments about solutions to get people out of homeless encampments, advocates and members of the opposition spoke up on Tuesday.

Four puppies were found near County Road 21 in Essa Township after a passerby spotted one when it ran out of the ditch and onto the road.

We've all had neighbours we didn't like, but two people from Sault Ste. Marie have been awarded more than half a million dollars for the 'extreme' behaviour of the people who lived next to them.

Local Spotlight

Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.

An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.

Fire has destroyed a barn and 17,000 plants at a family-owned business in Lower Coverdale, N.B.

Before influencers on social media, Canada’s Jeanne Beker was bringing the world of high fashion down to earth and as Calgary’s Glenbow Museum gets a major make-over, it will include a new exhibition showcasing the pop culture icon.

A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.

A Nova Scotian YouTuber has launched a mini-truck bookmobile.

Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.