NYC Mayor Adams says illegal immigration 'not sustainable' but still calls city's sanctuary plan a 'successful model'

New York City Mayor Eric Adams shared numbers of illegal immigrants staying in the city under the government's care and noted that the numbers of migrants and the conditions they stay in are not sustainable.

At a recent press conference, the mayor noted that close to 127,000 illegal immigrants have gone through the New York system since "last spring," with 118,000 people currently in the city's care. Of those 118,000, over 64,000 are migrants, the mayor said.

Adams claimed that the illegal immigrants have arrived faster and faster, increasing previous weekly totals from 2,400 to around 4,000.

"Every day the team is just really pulling off miracles, housing, making sure that we do and provide the basic services so we don't have long lines."

"I'm happy that my colleagues across the country are joining this chorus that I have been singing that it is not sustainable. And so we are going to do the best we can, but I want to be honest with New Yorkers. You're going to see the visual of running out of room. It's not if, it's when. People are going to be sleeping on our streets," the mayor added.

Adams famously said in early August 2023 that "there is no more room" for illegal immigrants in the city and in September 2023 set out a plan to cut the city's budget by up to 15% in order to pay for the crisis.

With an estimated price of $12 billion over the next three fiscal years, the city has scrambled to come up with ways to afford the costs. Despite the fiscal challenge and Adams' remarks that the influx of migrants "will destroy New York City," the Big Apple has been unwilling to rescind its status as a sanctuary city.

Adams said in his press conference that New York will "continue to use [its] successful model to help [migrants] transition out of the shelter system." The mayor claimed that many people are "deciding to find their own independent living arrangement or they're staying with family members or moving to other locales where they can stabilize their lives."

Adams pointed to other governments that have also asked for federal assistance, including Chicago, which passed a $51 million funding package to provide free housing for illegal immigrants, the Daily Wire reported.

In Massachusetts, Governor Maura Healey recently described the state's shelters as at capacity. The governor also announced a set of freebies for the illegal aliens, however, instituting job skills and "work readiness" programs as they look to turn the illegal immigrants into legal, working residents.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!