Politics

New York Mayor’s trip to Latin America to ‘Counter immigration propaganda’

New York, Oct 3 (EFE). – New York Mayor Eric Adams will travel Tuesday to Latin America – Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama – to address the robust online “propaganda machine” that sells migrants a “false promise” about the city.

“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 just because you come here, you’re automatically going to be allowed to work,” Adams declared.

“We will tell them what the real conditions are. The large number of thousands of people living in congregate settings,” he added.

More than 100,000 immigrants arrived in New York last year and at least 60,000 are in shelters provided by the city, which also provides them with food and other assistance, which the mayor says has undermined finances and will lead to a $12 billion deficit by 2025.

Accompanied by members of his cabinet and security police to meet with leaders of the Latin American countries and learn more about what led thousands to emigrate, while presenting his impact in New York, and will try to forge alliances to better manage the situation.

He will offer interviews with various media in those countries to get the message out not to come to New York and to counter false narratives.

“They’re going to try to get me on as many outlets – newspapers, radio, TV – in those areas to give people the honest truth,” Adams said.

“There’s a group of people that are there that are giving them false hope with false promises, we want to give people a true picture of what is here,” he added.

Adams and his team will start the trip on Wednesday in Mexico City, followed by Quito, Ecuador on Thursday.

On Friday, he will visit Colombia, stopping in Bogotá and the Darién jungle on the Panamanian border, where thousands of migrants pass on their way to the United States.

Adams stated that the “official position” is that “the borders must remain open” and insisted the necessity to implement a decompression strategy to address the influx of migrants.

US State Department considers Colombia dangerous, and Adams acknowledged that there is a “real risk” to his safety but said that he trusts in the protection of the city’s police.

Adams, who will return to New York on Sunday, has been criticized for the trip by activists who accuse him of needlessly spending taxpayer money after calling for cuts to agencies due to the fiscal crisis he says the city is going through due to the arrival of immigrants.

“If Mayor Adams really wants to learn more about the arduous journeys of asylum seekers seeking safety, he should spend a little more time talking to them or the organizations that serve them on the ground,” the Immigrant Coalition said. EFE

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