EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, is expected to be in El Paso this weekend with plans to tour the border.
His visit comes after last year when the City of El Paso was sending chartered buses of migrants to New York.
Adams shared his thoughts on El Paso sending the buses.
“El Paso, the city manager the mayor they should stop sending buses to New York,” Adams said last year.
As we have previously reported, the City of El Paso closed its migrant welcome center where it was chartering buses of migrants to New York and Chicago back in October.
At the time El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said the center was closed as “it is no longer currently needed”.
This after the Department of Homeland Security announced back in April that Venezuelans would be subject to Title 42 if they crossed the border between ports of entry.
Just before President Joe Biden came to El Paso, he announced that Nicaraguans, Cubans, and Haitians would also be subject to expulsion if they cross the border illegally and must apply to seek asylum online.
El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said he believes the Adams’ visit is an effort to have better coordination for the flow of migrants going to New York City if El Paso is to see a surge again.
“If we send anyone who is not documented or does not have a sponsor it is really difficult for them to assimilate in their communities. He knows the numbers are down but when the numbers go up the chances are that a lot of the migrants are going to want to go to New York and the bigger cities,” Samaniego said.
Samaniego adds that Adams is expected to go to Sacred Heart Church where migrants continue to camp outside, travel to the border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s new soft-sided processing facility in Northeast El Paso, and former Bassett Middle School which was being used as an emergency migrant shelter.
“The only thing I wish he had asked us was what do we want to show him,” said Samaniego.
Some migrants staying outside of Sacred Heart Church tell KTSM 9 News they want to go to New York.
“Because I’ve been told that it’s the state of dreams,” said a man from Venezuela.
