'Sanctuary City' Status Comes Home to Roost for NYC Residents - Mayor Floats Housing Illegals in 'Private Residences'
Maybe this will get liberals rethinking that whole “sanctuary city” business.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has kicked off a social media storm by floating the idea of private homes being used to house the thousands of illegal immigrants making their way, uninvited, into the United States — and into the Big Apple.
And he’s pushing it as serving the good of his city’s homeowners who might have “spare rooms.”
“There are residents who are suffering right now because of economic challenges,” Adams said at a news conference Monday, according to the New York Post.
“They have spare rooms. They have locales.”
NYC Mayor Eric Adams wants to house illegal immigrants in “faith based locales” and “private residence[s].” pic.twitter.com/AL2Tay0y6t
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 5, 2023
Seriously. This is the mayor of the same city that was sued just last week by the short-term rental behemoth Airbnb over an ordinance that the company argues is a “de facto ban against short-term rentals in New York,” according to Reuters.
But to Adams, and liberals like him, that’s different, apparently. Airbnb helps to pay customers who are interested in visiting a given location to connect with those who have space to rent. That’s a healthy, private-sector economic relationship that satisfies the free-market principle of supply meeting demand.
Adams’ proposal, on the other hand, involves emphatically non-paying customers — like the 46,000 “asylum seekers” currently flooding New York City, according to the Post — getting a room and a bed courtesy of American taxpayers. The fact that Adams sugarcoats it as some kind of way to put money into the pockets of New Yorkers doesn’t change the fact that it’s an obscenely unhealthy, quasi-socialist distortion version of the short-term rental business his administration despises.
It’s the latest sign that Adams is drowning in his own policies. And it’s an admission that New York and other Democratic-run jurisdictions that love bragging about being “sanctuary” cities can’t live up to the demands of actually being “sanctuary” cities. No place can. The world is full of billions of human beings who would love nothing more than a berth in the United States.
(Maybe Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her constituents will be happy to host them, but most normal people prefer to select their own roommates.)
The idea drew a hail of mockery and protest — that doesn’t even begin to cover its stupidity.
That sounds like a terrific idea. It will really allow New Yorkers to live up to the ideals of the whole “sanctuary city” idea. Who has an extra bedroom to share?
— John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) June 5, 2023
This is an outstanding gesture.
I’m certain the fine people of NYC and the suburbs would love 30-40k new roommates.
I applaud the mayor— Andrew Glashow (@GlashowAndrew) June 5, 2023
Yes great idea!!! Hamptons would be perfect place and Park and 5 ave.
— Irina Levine (@IrinaLevine27) June 5, 2023
Wow. Unfreakingbelievable.
— Happy Floridian (@HappyFloridian2) June 5, 2023
This is what socialism looks like
— James Bradley (@JamesBradleyCA) June 5, 2023
In its article, the Post called the proposal “half-baked,” which is putting it charitably. “Panicked” is probably a better adjective — the idea of a man and an administration who’s realizing that when the consequences of progressive politics are building up in unpleasant, unmanageable reality, leftist talk is worse than cheap.
Questions abound: How much would the owners of a private residence be paid for renting “spare rooms” to the government to house illegal aliens?
What standards would have to be met to make the “spare rooms” considered habitable? How is the government going to handle the inevitable problems of liability when an “asylum seeker” or a property owner is injured or killed on one of the properties? (And how many lawyers are going to be moving to New York just to get a piece of that action?)
How many sex-trafficking rings would just love to set up shop in the City that Never Sleeps, with overhead taken care of by the taxpayers, with a labor force made up of an endless supply of vulnerable women and girls available gratis, courtesy of President Joe Biden’s de facto open border?
Every suburban liberal in the United States who gets up on a moral high horse over former President Donald Trump’s efforts to control the United States border should be watching New York City carefully.
The Biden immigration invasion and progressive “sanctuary” platitudes could be hitting home before too long in some version of Adams’ idea. And if it does, it’s a good chance it won’t stay voluntary for long.
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