New York Mayor accused of xenophobia after speech
New York, Sep 8 (EFE).- New York Mayor Eric Adams was accused of “xenophobia” and inciting hatred toward newly arrived immigrants by the organization Make the Road accused on Friday, after he said his that housing and serving migrants “will destroy New York City”.
“What threatens the future of this city is Mayor Adams’ xenophobia. His rhetoric and approach to asylum seekers remain unacceptable and dangerous to the people of this city,” said Natalia Aristizabal, co-director of Make the Road, in a statement.
No stranger to polemic, Adams said in a speech Wednesday that 110,000 asylum seekers have passed through New York City since April 2022, and the issue will cause the city $12 billion budget deficit leading to cuts in services to New Yorkers.
However, Aristizabal mentioned that it is frustrating that the mayor has yet to accept the proposal made by activists for the city to extend the housing voucher program to newcomers, which so far is only granted to citizens with legal residency.
The city’s latest data show that it is responsible for 60,000 immigrants, including more than 20,000 children, for whom it provides shelter, food, health care, legal aid, and education for minors.
In recent weeks, an average of 3,000 have arrived each week, and the city continues to look for places to house them. In addition to the shelters it has improvised in hotels, soccer fields, gymnasiums, or former schools, and giant tents erected for them.
“It is extremely frustrating to see the mayor refuse to do the right thing on common sense policy issues like expanding access to housing vouchers and instead try to fan the flames of hatred against asylum seekers who were forced to leave everything behind to come here,” Aristizabal added.
He asserted that the mayor must stop turning new immigrants into “scapegoats” and work collaboratively with city, state, and federal leaders to address the real needs of the people.
“Everyone needs to step up, but blame games and divisive language gets our city nowhere,” she said.
Today’s headline from the New York Times says that the migrant crisis has meant that “the Republican Party already has the Democratic crisis it wanted,” referring to Democratic cities like New York and Los Angeles sliding toward anti-immigration rhetoric for fear of losing voters. EFE
rh/ar
