Up to 1,000 migrants arriving daily in NYC — and that number could skyrocket with Title 42 lift: city official
The Big Apple is taking in up to 1,000 migrants every day — and that number could increase with tomorrow’s lifting of Title 42, Mayor Eric Adams’ head of immigration services said Wednesday.
Manuel Castro made the stunning admission at a council budget hearing, as he said the current tally of 61,000 migrants who have arrived in the city will skyrocket “unless something changes.”
“We’re seeing 800 to 1,000 people arrive, right, in recent days, when they arrive in multiple buses, and then by airlines, we can see over 1,000 people a day arrive,” said Castro, who is the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.
He also predicted “a good portion” of the migrants crossing the southern border once Title 42 — a Trump administration-era border policy that lets the feds bar certain migrants from entering the US — ends Thursday could end up in the five boroughs.
“It’s hard to know how many of them would end up in New York – will be bused to New York – could be upwards of 12,000, possibly,” said Castro.
“It’s unknown how many will make it up to New York, but at this rate, a lot of people are being bused here.
“So I think you’ll probably see a good portion of them come here unless something changes.”
Border Patrol agents apprehended over 10,300 immigrants Tuesday alone, according to a Fox News report.
Title 42 is slated to end tomorrow, and officials expect a flood of individuals to cross the US-Mexico border.
Nearly 61,000 migrants have arrived in the city since last spring and the city is housing upwards of 37,000 currently in over 120 taxpayer funded hotels.
The Post observed at least one migrant bus arrive at the Port Authority Bus terminal around 6 A.M. Wednesday.
“They are expecting a lot of people to come here,” one source greeting arrivals told The Post.
“There used to be four cops. Now they are eight.. The medical team used to be there when the busses come in. Now they are there all day,” the person said.
It’s prompted the city to relocate migrants into the NYPD’s former Manhattan police academy and consider prominent locations like the iconic Roosevelt Hotel and even Central Park.
What is Title 42 and what does its end mean for US border immigration?
What is Title 42?
Title 42 is a federal health measure enforced by the US Border Patrol. It allows the agency to kick certain migrants out of the US and return them to Mexico. This includes asylum seekers, who under international law have the legal right to make an asylum claim in America.
Currently, migrants who cross the border illegally and who are from Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua or Venezuela are subject to Title 42 and could be sent to Mexico.
How did Title 42 start?
President Donald Trump invoked the law in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue the policy. The Trump administration made the case that keeping migrants out of the country would slow down the spread of infections and maintain the safety of federal agents encountering migrants.
What has happened with Title 42 under Biden?
When President Biden took over, he continued to enforce Title 42 with one important change from his predecessor. Biden said Border Patrol agents were only allowed to expel migrants from certain countries under his direction. That meant migrants seeking asylum from countries like Cuba and Venezuela could still seek asylum if they arrived at the border and stay in the US while their cases were decided in court — unless they had a criminal record.
What is happening with Title 42 now?
Title 42 is supposed to be a health policy, not an immigration law. It will end at 11:59 p.m. May 11, when the Biden administration ends all COVID-19-related policies.
Why is it controversial?
Many have called for the policy’s end, saying it’s illegal and that international law guarantees people the right to seek asylum.
Others, like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, warn that the southern border could see up to 13,000 migrants per day crossing with the intention to stay in the country when the measure ends.
What would the end of Title 42 mean for immigration into the US?
It’s unclear exactly how many people have been expelled under Title 42 because there have been scores of people who have attempted to enter the country numerous times and been rejected again and again, but the US Border Patrol said it made an all-time high of more than 2.3 million arrests at the border in the last fiscal year. Forty percent of people who were expelled from the country were ejected under the rules of Title 42.
City officials were also poised to bus roughly 60 migrants Wednesday to two separate hotels for a four-month period in upstate Rockland and Orange Counties — well outside the city’s borders and in a different jurisdiction.
“Why was the decision made to send migrants to Rockland or Orange County versus Westchester – or are migrants going to be basically sent everywhere at this point, because we’re over capacity?” asked Council Finance Chair Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn).
Castro admitted: “We’re looking at all options to be frank.”
“I’d rather find hotels to be able to put people up in, you know, then like the police academy, you know, and wherever we might find a hotel I think that’s we’ll look at that seriously.”
Orangetown — the Rockland County municipality where one of the hotels is located — won a temporary restraining order Tuesday evening, aimed at blocking the facility from accepting migrants.
Castro said the city is considering legal action.
He also told lawmakers the city is close to opening their Office of Asylum Seeker Operations – announced in March.
The crisis is projected to cost the city $4.3 billion by June 2024, according to estimates by the city’s Office of Management and Budget.
