Mayor Eric Adams will travel to Washington DC Thursday for a series of meetings to discuss additional federal aid for New York City and other cities bearing the brunt of the migrant crisis — after his last trip was cut short by an FBI raid on his chief fundraiser’s home.
It was not immediately clear whether Adams will meet with President Biden or any other senior White House officials during his visit. The mayor’s full schedule will be made public Wednesday.
Deputy Mayor for Communication Fabien Levy wrote on X that the main topic of discussions in DC will be “the needs of NYC and other cities nationwide to manage the asylum seeker crisis.”
Levy noted that “this will be at least [Adams’] 10th trip to DC where he has discussed this issue since last year.”
Adams’ previous trip to the nation’s capital a month ago was scrapped at last minute after FBI agents descended on the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, the mayor’s top fundraiser, as part of a probe into whether his campaign received illegal contributions from Turkey.
Suggs has not been charged with any crime, but has since been reassigned to a different role within Adams’ campaign.
In late October, Adams and four other mayors sent a letter calling on Biden to provide at least $5 billion in federal aid to compensate cities like New York, Los Angeles and Houston for providing housing and social services to large numbers of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Central and South America.
The mayors also asked the Biden administration to speed up approval of work papers for asylum seekers so they could get jobs.
As of late November, some 146,000 migrants had arrived in the Big Apple since the spring of 2022, according to the latest data.
Adams, who has openly criticized Biden for his handling of the migrant surge, previously said he has not spoken to the president since last year.
NYC is expected to spend $12 billion on migrants through 2025, which has led to deep cuts to other vital services.