NYC Mayor Adams Floats Idea of using Cruise Ships to House Illegal Immigrants Amid Influx

With more buses of illegal immigrants arriving in New York City, the city is struggling to keep up. New York City’s shelters are overwhelmed, even with only a small fraction of the total number of illegal immigrants crossing the border being bused to New York.

Democrat Mayor Eric Adams is trying to figure out how to house all of the individuals being bused to his city from the southern border. During his interview on WCBS Sunday Adams shared, “We examined everything from the legality of using any type of cruise ship for temporary housing.”

“We’re looking at everything to see, how do we deal with this,” he declared. This statement was made just shortly before nine buses, a record number, arrived in the city. The buses typically hold 40 to 50 migrants.

This isn’t the first time that cruise ships have been proposed to help alleviate the pressure on New York City’s shelter system. During Bloomberg’s time as mayor, his administration considered using them as well during its own surge of migration.

New York’s shelter system is so full the city has had to open 23 emergency shelters, and yet there are still not enough beds. The influx of illegal immigrants in the city has brought attention to the invasion at the southern border.

Adams also took issue with federal policy that bars illegal immigrants from working in the U.S. before obtaining work permits.

Adams said in his interview, “We’re saying, ‘You could come here, but you are not allowed to work.’ That is unbelievable.” He also noted that there are shortages in various sectors.

He added, “We need to look and see what we are facing shortages, how do we go about allowing people to take care of themselves? If not, we, the government, must take care of them. That just makes no sense.”

On Friday, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) also suggested putting the illegal immigrants coming into New York City to work. Gillibrand wants to move New York City’s newest residents to upstate New York where there is a labor shortage.

Some see it as comical, as sanctuary cities that decry they are a safe place for illegal immigrants, also seem to be struggling on how to handle just a small number of the total that have illegally crossed the southern border.