The largest number of migrants ever to arrive in New York City on a single day disembarked from buses Wednesday at the city’s Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Hundreds of migrants sent to the city by Texas Governor Greg Abbott were greeted by Commissioner Manuel Casto of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.
Five different charter buses brought 250 arrivals from America’s southern border, who were then guided into the bus terminal for medical examinations, and food.
““Many children, many families, again, we noticed that they were hungry, thirsty, and many of them had medical conditions. We actually had to transport a family with three children, one of which was very ill, to a local hospital,” Castro said as he stood outside Port Authority, amny reported.
“Many of the individuals coming here were misled. They were told they were going to be allowed to leave the buses, but they were not,” Castro said.
“The state of Texas has contracted a private security firm that is keeping individuals in these buses,” he charged.
“Now, we have seen a number of buses drop off individuals, we don’t know how common this practice is. Governor Abbott contracted these companies and forced them to sign a nondisclosure agreement that did not allow them to communicate and coordinate with us,” Castro added.
Manhattan’s borough president called on the federal government to help with financial support. “We need help from the federal government. We need the federal government to lead on this to coordinate the cities and states across the country,” Levine said.
“We can do this in a coordinated and strategic fashion. But in the meantime, New York is stepping up and I’m really proud of that,” he added.
Castro told reporters the migrants are “allowed to be here,” and claimed, “they go through rigorous background checks before being admitted into the country.” New York City, he said, is “willing to work with the federal government and other states” on settling the migrants as they arrive.
Which is one of the issues Abbott said he was trying to make when he began the busing program that is roundly condemned by New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Abbott Responds
“Adams’ fabricated claims about Texas’ treatment of migrants have no basis in reality,” Abbott wrote in a piece for the New York Post on Wednesday.
“To be clear, any migrant who boards a bus from Texas to New York has signed an agreement to be transported to the city. All are provided food and ¬water throughout the ¬journey.
“Adams talked the talk about being a sanctuary city — welcoming illegal immigrants into the Big Apple with warm hospitality,” Abbott wrote.
“Talk is cheap. When pressed into fulfilling such ill-considered policies, he wants to condemn anyone who is pressing him to walk the walk.
“[Adams] now complains that he and New York City are overwhelmed by migrants to such an extent that he demands federal help and discourages Texas from sending more buses to his city.
“What Adams is dealing with is a trifle of what small border towns grapple with daily,” he wrote.
“More than two million illegal immigrants have crossed the border in the past 11 months — many of them pouring into Texas towns with populations far fewer than 50,000…The Biden administration has paper-processed hundreds of thousands of migrants who are dropped off in those small Texas towns, leaving them helpless to deal with the massive influx.”
