Adams: ‘I Never Said, Come One, Come All’ to Migrants

On Thursday’s edition of WABC’s “Sid & Friends in the Morning,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) responded to a question on his frustration with the migrant situation in New York and the city’s status as a sanctuary city by stating that “I never said, come one, come all. People attempted to give that impression, that has never been my impression.”

Host Sid Rosenberg asked, [relevant exchange begins around 15:20] “A lot of your critics say the same thing, Mayor Eric Adams, now, he’s frustrated, he’s angry, he can’t handle the situation. Who could, okay? But he was the same guy, Mayor Eric Adams, who was yelling and screaming, hey, we’re a sanctuary city, come one, come all. He was the same guy that, when the buses first got here, was right there…shaking the hands of these people. He’s the same guy that is putting these people in four-star hotels, why are there still hundreds of people sleeping outside the Roosevelt Hotel, some of our finest establishments? He’s that guy. So, okay, he’s upset now, where was that Eric Adams a year ago? What would you say to that?”

Adams responded, “Well, first, let’s be clear on something, I’m passionate. And I find it disrespectful, whenever someone shows passion — doesn’t have to be me or anyone else — that, all of a sudden, is angry. I’m passionate. I’m a passionate New Yorker. I have a New York attitude. … What I did is what all of us have — we have all done in this city. There’s a reason the Statue of Liberty, folks, sits in our harbor. I don’t care if you came from Irish ancestry, if you came from Italian, if you came here from Greece, if you came from the Caribbean, if you came from Africa, all of us wanted an opportunity to pursue the American Dream. And I said, I’m not going to treat people in an undignified way. When early groups came here, they had the right to work and to participate in the American Dream.”

Rosenberg then cut in to say, “In all fairness, those people did it legally, they were vetted. What’s going on here is ridiculous. These people — my kids can’t go into school without showing proof of vaccination. You’ve got little kids, God bless them, not their fault, showing up in schools all over the city who have not been tested for anything. So, you can’t compare what happened at Ellis Island, Eric, to what’s going on right now. This is insane.”

Adams countered, “I disagree with you, Sid. I disagree a lot. Listen, the children who showed up in our schools, the law and the rules require, within 30 days, they have to get vaccinated, if they’re coming — if they meet the status that you were just talking about. Let’s be clear on this, I can’t stop people from crossing the border and I do not have the authorization to deport people. That is not within my powers as a Mayor. What I must do is whoever comes to the city, I must ensure that they’re treated with the dignity and respect that our ancestors were treated with. That’s what I must do. And so, when people came here at the same time, I never said, come one, come all. People attempted to give that impression, that has never been my impression. Our hearts are big, but our resources are not endless. And I made that clear a year ago, stated, this should not be happening to New York City. How people tried to interpret that and spin that, that is not the reality.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett