On Wednesday, New York City received its first known chartered buses bearing migrants sent here by Texas officials in months, and more are expected as local and national officials brace for a predicted surge in migrant border crossings.
Forty-one newcomers stepped onto a gated-off sidewalk at the underpass outside Port Authority Bus Terminal around 7 a.m., and about 50 more arrived on a second bus around 1 p.m. They join more than 59,000 migrants who have arrived in the city since last spring.
The buses follow a promise by Gov. Greg Abbott, Republican from Texas, to ramp up the campaign he began last year of dispatching busloads of migrants to New York, Washington, D.C. and other points north.
Officials say several hundred new migrants continue to arrive in the city daily, long after the flow of chartered buses from border states slowed to a trickle in the fall, before eventually pausing altogether. But the number of daily arrivals could soon swell to over 1,000, said Manuel Castro, the commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, with sweeping pandemic-era border restrictions under Title 42 set to expire May 11.
The Biden administration has said border crossings are expected to double soon afterward. Most of the new arrivals in New York City are asylum-seekers from Central and South America.
Migrants arrive in New York courtesy of a chartered bus dispatched by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas.
Castro echoed Mayor Eric Adams’ rebuke earlier this week of Abbott’s decision to send more buses to New York City and other major cities led by Black Democrats. Castro also joined in finger-pointing at the lack of help from the White House.
“We are calling on the federal government to intervene now,” Castro pleaded, standing at the underpass ahead of the arrival of the first bus on Wednesday. “There is no more time to wait. They need to step in at the U.S.-Mexico border and help people spread across the country.”
Adams has intensified his pleas for federal intervention in recent weeks, especially to speed up approvals for asylum-seekers to receive work permits. He says the cost of sheltering the newcomers is burning an estimated multibillion-dollar hole in the city’s budget and threatening services. Federal and state aid has not covered the costs.
We're at the height of tourism season in New York. So hotels are running out of space. We're running out of space.
As city officials scout more hotels to prepare for the expected influx – more than 100 already are in use as emergency shelters – they face limited options, Castro added.
“We're at the height of tourism season in New York,” he said. “So hotels are running out of space. We're running out of space.”
More volunteers arrived to help manage the bus arrival on Wednesday, bringing extra takeout containers of meals, as well as bags of clothes and toiletries, as members of the National Guard hauled cases of plastic water bottles.
But even after the pause in chartered bus arrivals, local volunteer groups have long been stationed at the bus terminal to help new migrants in shelter and those who have continued to arrive through other means, like airplanes, trains and public long-haul buses.
Migrants arrive in New York City, courtesy of a chartered bus dispatched by Gov. Greg Abbott, Republican of Texas.
“We've been here. And we're frankly not going anywhere,” said Power Malu, executive director of Artists Athletes Activists. “There's always talks about other places opening up, but this is where everyone shows up. They come to New York City. Port Authority is kind of that place and the word has spread.”
But with the expected influx, Malu called on officials, particularly in New York City but also in border states, to be more transparent and collaborative about their response.
He said, “We have to step up our game and really meet this challenge by communicating, coordinating and working together.”
This article was updated with additional details about the arrival of new migrants in the city. It was further updated to correct the spelling of Manuel Castro's name.
