Adams, Abbott escalate war of words over asylum seekers Transcript

Speaker 1: (00:00)
Right now, the war of words between Mayor Eric Adams and the Governor of Texas is escalating.

Speaker 2: (00:05)
Dozens of asylum seekers from the Texas border are now here in the city after being bused over by Governor Greg Abbott. CBS2’s John Dias joins us live from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, where those migrants arrived over the weekend. Good morning, John.

John Dias: (00:19)
Good morning to both of you, and a spokesperson with the mayor’s office saying that Abbott’s move is “an embarrassing stain on the state of Texas” and stressed that New York City, it is a shelter city and Mayor Eric Adams, he welcomes those asylum seekers with open arms

Mayor Eric Adams: (00:37)
We’re finding that some of the families are on the bus that wanted to go to other locations and they were not allowed to do so. They were forced on the bus.

John Dias: (00:47)
Mayor Eric Adams showing his frustration this weekend with Republican governor Greg Abbott after Abbott started moving asylum seekers from overwhelmed border towns and busing them to New York City and other Democratic cities in a challenge to the Biden Administration’s open border policies.

Mayor Eric Adams: (01:05)
This is horrific when you think about what the governor is doing, the governor of Texas, after a month of traveling across the border, placing on the bus with no direction.

John Dias: (01:19)
This morning, Abbott is firing back at Adams saying in a tweet in part, “Did he say it was horrific when Biden flew plane loads into New York? Nope! Horrific is Biden’s policy of letting in approximately two million illegal immigrants. The New York mayor has no idea how horrific it really is.” Meanwhile, many greeted a busload of asylum seekers at the Port Authority Bus Terminal this weekend, which include men, women, and children.

Speaker 5: (01:47)
I’m from Haiti and I’m welcoming these people to New York City because that’s also hurting me the way Texas treat my own Haitian people.

John Dias: (01:59)
But some city officials are already growing uneasy and worried about meeting demand. 14 migrants arrived on Sunday, 40 on Friday. While Adams is now turning to the federal government for more resources, immigration advocates say there needs to be coordination between states and agencies or havoc will ensue.

Judy Mcquistion: (02:19)
Fortunately, because it’s New York, they’re getting as much services as they can at the time, but it’s really hard because there’s so much need for them, housing and then food.

John Dias: (02:33)
And Mayor Eric Adams, he is also calling on the federal government again to give them additional resources and services that they will now need, the city will now need with all these new people coming here to New York City. For now, we are alive this morning from outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal. John Dias, CBS2 News.

Speaker 2: (02:51)
John. Thank you.