The 2023 U.S. Conference of Mayors is scheduled Wednesday to address the issue of border states busing illegal migrants to some cities, according to a draft of the conference agenda.
"Record numbers of people are crossing the Southern border, requesting asylum, and needing assistance in cities at or near the border and throughout the country," the agenda reads. "The session will focus on Administration policies regarding the migration of asylum seekers and others to the United States, efforts underway to make it more orderly and improve communications, and the information and funding needed to assure that cities and non-governmental organizations within them can meet their needs without reducing services to their existing population. This session is open to mayors and mayors' staff only."
According to the organization, which has hosted the annual event since 1932, scheduled speakers on the topic feature Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs; Brenda Abdelall, Assistant Secretary of Partnership and Engagement United States Department of Homeland Security; Sean McGoffin, Department of Homeland Security; and Melissa Forbes, Department of Homeland Security Chair, Emergency Food and Shelter Program.
The session comes as big cities like New York are struggling with thousands of illegal migrants being bused in from states like Texas and Arizona.
CBS News reported that New York City Mayor Eric Adams visited El Paso, Texas, over the weekend to see the situation and called on the federal government to give the cities more federal funding to assist in dealing with the influx.
"What is happening in Chicago right now, and New York, and Houston, and Los Angeles, and Washington, our cities are being undermined. And we don't deserve this," CBS reported Adams as saying. "Migrants don't deserve this. And the people who live in these cities don't deserve this. We expect more from our national leaders to address this issue in a real way."
In October and November some 111,000 illegal migrants crossed into the El Paso sector comprising about 20% of the record of more than 561,000 encounters nationwide during the same time, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported.
Republican Governors in border states began shipping the migrants to large Democrat-run cities during the summer, stretching resources in those urban centers.
Adams pleaded with El Paso in October to stop sending the migrants to the city, El Paso television station KFOX 14 reported at the time.
"This Federal issue remains a local humanitarian concern for the City of El Paso and the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) due to the increasing number of migrants passing through the region, limited federal and local shelter capacities, and an increasing number of migrants that are not sponsored or have means to travel," the city responded to Adams at the time.
"With the goal to provide for the safety of the migrants from the elements and to preserve our local community's transitory hospitality shelter capacities so they may continue to serve our homeless community, El Paso and OEM have sponsored and provided transportation services for migrants out of El Paso to locations the migrants are selecting. So, the migrants are selecting NYC and various other locations, El Paso and OEM is providing assistance to the migrants in the form of food, water, temporary shelter, first aid, and transportation.
"El Paso and OEM is not selecting NYC and no one is forced to go where they don't want to go. Before the charter departs El Paso, we advise the NYC Mayor's Office, the local NYC NGO (Grannies Respond) and the Office of Emergency Management team from New York."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.