U.S. cities attempt to clamp down on migrant busings with ordinances
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Eric Adams during a press conference on Nov. 28. Photo: Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Major U.S. cities are taking new steps to try and address the migrant crisis facing them and restrict migrant busing.
Driving the news: States like Texas and Florida have spent millions of dollars to send migrants to other parts of the country, straining shelter capacities and resources in places like New York City and Denver.
- New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston issued a joint appeal for more federal support to deal with the migrant crisis.
- "All of our cities have reached a point where we are either close to capacity or nearly out of room," Johnson said at a joint press conference Wednesday.
- While all three cities are committed to helping migrants, "without significant intervention from the federal government, this mission will not be sustained," Johnson added.
Context: New York City — which has received the most migrants from Texas' state-sponsored busing program — expects the surge of migrants from Texas to intensify in the coming days and weeks, Adams said at the press conference.
- Denver said Tuesday that the city is currently currently sheltering more than 4,000 migrants. "That's more than 10 times the number that were there when I took office just six months ago," Johnston said at the press conference.
- Chicago, like Denver and New York City, has been contending with the problem of "rogue" buses of migrants that arrive unannounced. Over the last seven months, the city has received hundreds of such buses that have created an "incredible amount of chaos," Johnson said at the briefing.
State of play: Adams announced an executive order Wednesday requiring charter bus companies bringing migrants to the city to provide at least 32 hours of advance notice before their arrival.
- The order also requires the buses to drop off migrants only between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on weekdays and in certain locations in the city.
- Chicago announced a similar policy to coordinate migrant buses back in November. The city has already issued 96 citations and impounded at least one bus due to violations, CBS News reported.
- However, some bus companies have skirted the order by dropping off migrants outside Chicago. Now, suburbs like Aurora and Oak Park have passed ordinances also requiring bus companies to give advance notice of arrival, per CBS News.
- Johnston said during the press conference that Denver also has restrictions in place for when and where migrants can be dropped off, but noted his office will be in conversation with the city council over possibly enhancing the penalties associated with those restrictions.
Go deeper: Texas surpasses 50,000 migrants bused to major cities
