A New York Democrat has warned that comments made by the city's mayor about the increasing number of migrants are "dangerous" and could cause violence to erupt.
Tiffany Cabán slammed Eric Adams’s remarks labelling his words as “irresponsible”.
Last week, the mayor said that the sharp increase in migration to New York would “destroy” the city.
Since last year, thousands of people who crossed the US-Mexico border have requested asylum in New York and other Democratic-led cities.
“The idea that new arrivals would destroy New York City is absurd to me. New arrivals, immigrants, made our city,” Cabán told the Guardian.
“I think there’s a real possibility of his rhetoric fomenting violence, and that’s the last thing we need."
Discussing the issue last week Adams said: “Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to … This issue will destroy New York City.”
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Cabán responded to his comments, describing them as “repugnant Maga garbage” - in reference to Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan.
She added: “It’s not a migrant crisis, it’s a humanitarian crisis.
"It’s a crisis of policy. But the people themselves, [those] fleeing really dangerous situations, they are not the crisis.”
Despite accepting that the situation is difficult, Cabán said Adams has “gutted” funding for social services.
Tiffany Cabán slammed Eric Adams’s remarks labelling his words as 'irresponsible'
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Last Saturday Adams announced that city agencies must cut their budgets by up to 15 per cent without increased federal and state support for arriving migrants.
“I know that he likes to lay blame at other people’s feet in the political ecosystem, but the fact of the matter is that the mayor has the most power in directing localities’ response,” Cabán said.
The Democrat has warned that the mayor risks playing to Republican hands following attacks on Joe Biden’s handling of border issues.
