New York City Mayor Eric Adams is finalizing a deal to lease a cruise ship from the Norwegian Cruise Line that will be docked at Staten Island and house migrants for up to six months before they are processed into the city's shelter system.
The migrants would be permitted to come and go as they wish while staying on the ship, reports the New York Post, quoting a source said to be familiar with the matter.
According to preliminary estimates, the plan to put migrants on a shop will cost less than putting up another tent city, like the one that's under construction in the Bronx at the Orchard Beach parking lot. The Post reported last week that the tent city is projected to cost $15 million a month.
The source further said that City Hall is negotiating the use of a shop owned by Estonian-based Tallink. The same ship was used by the Estonian government to house Ukrainians fleeing their country after Russia invaded in February.
Approximately 15,000 migrants have come to New York City since May, according to City Hall estimates. City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli, R-Staten Island, said putting immigrants on a cruise ship makes the best out of the situation, which he blamed on President Joe Biden.
"Until Biden shuts off the border I am not sure how we can continue to accommodate these people without taking over every inch of parkland with tent cities," Borelli said. "This arguably may be a more reasonable way to cope with the crisis than people might think."
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., however, called the idea "ludicrous."
"Both Biden and Adams refuse to address the root of the problem and, instead, continue to incentivize illegal immigration," she said. "Democrats have abdicated their responsibility, but when Republicans take the House we will put an end to this nonsense."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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