New York Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency today in response to thousands of Hispanic migrants being brought into the city by bus from the southern US border in recent months, putting pressure on the city’s homeless shelter system.

The city expects to spend $1 billion to fight the influx of asylum seekers, Adams said. More than 17,000 people have come to New York since April. On average, an average of five or six buses arrive every day since the beginning of September, Democrat Adams said, and nine buses arrived in the city yesterday Thursday.

The number of people housed in shelters across the city has reached an all-time high due to a surge in arrivals.

“While our compassion is limitless, our resources are not,” Adams said, calling on the federal and state governments to provide support. “We’re on the edge of a cliff.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican running for a third term in the November midterm elections, brought more than 3,000 migrants to New York by bus to draw attention to record US-Mexico border crossings.

Adams criticized Abbott for failing to notify city officials of sending migrants north.

“Thousands of asylum seekers were brought to New York by buses and simply thrown out without warning, agreement or departure,” Adams said, referring to the “artificial crisis.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSandis, a Republican, recently airlifted a group of about 50 immigrants to the luxury resort of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Those on the plane said they were misled.

Democrats have accused Abbott and DeSandis of using vulnerable migrants as political tools, while Republicans have accused President Joe Biden’s administration of failing to stem the flow at the border.

Authorities in the Democratic-controlled city of El Paso have welcomed about 7,000 immigrants to New York since late August and say they are acting in coordination with New York authorities, unlike Abbott.

Muriel Bowser, the mayor of the federal capital of Washington, declared a state of emergency in the city last month, creating a new agency to manage incoming migrants and calling on the federal government to provide financial assistance.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters.