New York Doomed to Be Migrant Central -- Other Cities Take Note

: Betsy Mccaughey on Mar 20, 2024

After months of negotiating, Adams capitulated. No one at the table was looking out for taxpayers or New Yorkers who see their services being cut and their neighborhoods disrupted by the proliferation of shelters. The multibillion-dollar shelter industry came out a winner, but Joe Public got shafted.

As the agreement was announced, Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom praised the "right to shelter" and Legal Aid Society for the work they do. They're all in bed together.

Josh Goldfein, a Legal Aid attorney, explained that despite the settlement, "no migrant would be left out on the streets." In fact, the agreement bans the city from even making migrants sleep overnight in chairs while waiting to be placed, imposing stricter shelter requirements than before.

A "right to shelter" for anyone who shows up on Gotham's doorsteps means New Yorkers who want sanitation services, police and fire protection, and other city amenities go to the back of the line. Their services get cut to pay for sheltering migrants. Adams needs to battle aggressively, up through the highest courts, to get that "right" reexamined.

Only New York has a "right to shelter," and it makes the city the top destination for migrants. New York City spends more than 10 times as much as Los Angeles per migrant and more than five times as much as Chicago.

To top it off, the agreement and the Adams administration are renaming migrants "new arrivals," whitewashing the laws they broke to get here.

Expect hundreds of thousands more to see these welcome signs and come. Who wouldn't come?

On Sunday, Adams praised the city's "responsible policies" and blamed "Republican extremists" for the border crisis. Sorry, Mr. Mayor, but the crisis here in New York City is due to the lavish benefits local Democrats insist on offering "new arrivals." There's no whitewashing that.

========

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey. To find out more about Betsy McCaughey and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

----