New York Mayor Eric Adams said the city no longer has room for migrants, and leaflets will be handed out at the US-Mexico border encouraging them to head elsewhere.
More than 90,000 immigrants, mostly from Central and South America they arrived in New York since April of last year and subjected the services to extreme demands.
“Our cup is full. We don’t have any more space in the city,” Adams told a news conference on Wednesday.
The influx came as Republican-led states like Texas move migrants to Democratic-ruled areas to protest President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
Nearly 106,000 people, including some 54,000 migrants live hosted by the city of New York, either in shelters or hotels, according to the authorities.
A brochure in English and Spanish will warn asylum seekers that housing in New York is “very expensive” and that the cost of food, transportation and other necessities “is the highest in the United States.”
“There is no guarantee that we will be able to provide shelter and services to new arrivals,” it reads. “Please consider another city when deciding where to settle in the United States,” the brochure added.
Adams said the city wants people to face “the real reality at the border, something the federal government should be doing.”
He also announced that the Single adult migrants will have to reapply for refuge after 60 days to help free up space for families with children.
Adams said the city would help migrants find alternative accommodations with friends, family and support networks.
“Our compassion is infinite. Our space is not,” said Ted Long, a senior official with the agency that runs much of the emergency shelter for migrants.
“We cannot continue to absorb tens of thousands of new arrivals on our own without the help of the state and federal government,” he told reporters.
New York was historically a sanctuary for immigrants, but Adams is trying to gradually restrict the number of new arrivals.
His critics accuse him of violating housing laws, which require the city to provide a bed to anyone who needs one.
The announcement “undermines not only the right to housing, but New York’s defining role as a beacon of promise, inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty,” said City Comptroller Brad Lander.
The New York branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called the mayor’s plan “cruel” and “illegal.”