Press Room

After Mayor Adams failed to defend vulnerable New Yorkers from lies and hate while testifying before Congress on Wednesday, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams spoke out in defense of immigrant communities. At a budget hearing of the City Council’s Committee on Immigration, the Public Advocate called for a rejection of false narratives and support for key services for our city of immigrants, regardless of when one arrived in New York.

“I would like to make one thing very clear,” declared Public Advocate Williams. “The funding of services for our newest New Yorkers has been wielded by our mayor and now the President as a political weapon that seeks to distort a simple reality: even in the face of the billions of dollars the city has spent on asylum seeker services, this number pales in comparison to the cost of Trump’s immigration agenda… The answer is simple. The resources we devote to our most vulnerable New Yorkers is a fraction of the cost of what the Mayor-President, sorry, the mayor AND president, are proposing.”

The Public Advocate emphasized both the moral and legal right to fund housing – and to maintain baseline capacity for this shelter infrastructure even after some emergency shelters have closed as the number of arrivals ebbs. He also emphasized the importance of legal services, saying “During times of heightened exclusion, federally-sponsored racism, and scapegoating, our lawyers are our frontline workers. They deserve to have funding that is adequate and flexible enough to make sure that long term legal care for individuals in need can be funded.”

“To the detriment of our city and its goods and services, the Mayor has continuously overbudgeted for asylum seeker services, and often make cuts to city goods and services based on that…” continued the Public Advocate. “... His tactics to scapegoat our vulnerable communities and manufacture a fraudulent picture of the use of tax payer dollars is both regrettable and misleading. This is the same overbudgeting scheme that blames the closure of libraries, crucial programs, and now childcare facilities on our newest New Yorkers. In fact, we should be blaming the Mayor.”

Read the Public Advocate’s full comments below. Video is available here.

STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION MARCH 6, 2025

Thank you very much Madame Chair.

As mentioned, My name is Jumaane D. Williams and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. Thank you very much Chair Aviles for holding today’s hearing and allowing me the opportunity to provide a statement.

First I just want to say the mayor was in D.C. yesterday. I think he’s now a national embarrassment, as he had the opportunity to step up and lead but became the face of capitulation. I’m saying that, not you. But I want to make sure that you know that we understand that we don’t have the mayor that we need at this moment in time. So I just want to thank the Commissioner, Director, and hopefully, you’ll continue to do what you can, under some very difficult circumstances. But also I think there are some things the City Council is asking that can help that go a little easier. I just wanted to acknowledge that you’re working under a mayor that I think has oppositional views to most of us, including yourselves, and I acknowledge that.

In advance of the discussions being held at today’s hearing, I would like to make one thing very clear. The funding of services for our newest New Yorkers has been wielded by our mayor and now the President as a political weapon that seeks to distort a simple reality: even in the face of the billions of dollars the city has spent on asylum seeker services, this number pales in comparison to the cost of Trump’s immigration agenda. For everyone who might object to the expenditure of city and state resources to welcome our newest New Yorkers, please think about the cost of chartered planes, or private detention facilities, and of ever-expanding law enforcement. Thank you for the contributions that our immigrant communities make to our city’s economy and what a loss of labor, goods, and tax dollars will cost our city. Just to be clear, seeking asylum is perfectly legal in this country, at least it is today.

The answer is simple. The resources we devote to our most vulnerable New Yorkers is a fraction of the cost of what the Mayor-President, sorry, the mayor AND president, are proposing. The conservative estimate put forth by pro-Trump think tanks estimates the national cost at $500 billion, more than two-hundred times the cost of our city’s budget this year. In fact, peer-reviewed economists have predicted that the true cost of Trump’s immigration agenda, combined with the loss of labor and tax payer dollars, is over $6 trillion.

To the detriment of our city and its goods and services, the Mayor has continuously overbudgeted for asylum seeker services, and often make cuts to city goods and services based on that. You will hear him boast about saving more than $2 billion dollars in this year’s budget. This is money that was allocated for asylum seekers and never properly spent, yet, the Mayor is still insisting that we require more State funds for these operations. His tactics to scapegoat our vulnerable communities and manufacture a fraudulent picture of the use of tax payer dollars is both regrettable and misleading. This is the same overbudgeting scheme that blames the closure of libraries, crucial programs, and now childcare facilities on our newest New Yorkers. In fact, we should be blaming the Mayor. And I do want to have a message to long-term New Yorkers who have not gotten what they needed and they’ve been here for decades and decades. I just want to be clear that the money that has been spent thus far has always been here. We have always had the money to provide everything that everyone needed. Please do not allow people who chose not to spend that money on people who were in crisis long before the migrants were here to now blame the migrants for decisions that they haven’t made.

As the number of asylum seekers in our shelters continues to decrease, we must now become intentional about retaining our baseline of necessary asylum seeking services while also addressing the increased danger being imposed on our communities. We must ensure that NYC’s Department of Homeless Services can fill the void left by closing emergency facilities for those still in need of shelter.

Besides housing - which I believe is a right and not an optional service - the most critical lifeline for our non-citizen communities are our rapid legal services, something that the city should have paid attention to a long time ago, and we would have had some folks here seeking asylum legally have more ability to work. I am calling on the Mayor and the Council to answer the call of the Rapid Response Legal Collaborative for an additional $33 million, just over $11 million per organization. During times of heightened exclusion, federally-sponsored racism, and scapegoating, our lawyers are our frontline workers. They deserve to have funding that is adequate and flexible enough to make sure that long term legal care for individuals in need can be funded.

New York City is, and always will be, a city of immigrants. I focused my testimony today mostly on asylum seekers and migrants as they are at heightened risk, but we are a city of immigrants, all immigrants, and newest New Yorkers are no different from our city’s many grandparents and great-grandparents who landed on Ellis Island. We have a fiduciary responsibility as public servants, family members, and humans to continue to care for our vulnerable communities and that means putting our money where our heart is – and to be clear this was never about criminals or crimes. Sanctuary cities are safer than other cities, and we already have laws that help deal with people who are convicted of particular crimes.

It was never about being legal or illegal. They are now turning people over who were here legally like Haitian brothers and sisters, our Venezuelan brothers and sisters, who were here legally on TPS taking away that status and sometimes always left out, Black immigrants are the highest percentage to be deported based on their presence here and once again we see anti-Blackness rear its head. Lastly, I just want to remind folks that the mayor himself practically dared people to send the buses here, saying that he’d be able to handle the problem. So I’m just very disappointed with where we are, but I’m thankful to the chair, the Speaker, to this City Council and for so many others trying to stand in the gap where this mayor is not. And I’m thankful to the public servants who are doing the best they can in some very difficult situations. With that, I yield back

Thank you so much.

"Mayor Adams had an opportunity today to push back, to stand up to hateful rhetoric and harmful policies directed at immigrant New Yorkers. Instead, he refused to speak out, or speak much at all. His presence and silence gave credibility to the lies of conservative officials. With a chance to expose the hypocrisy and harm of anti-immigrant sentiment from the president and his allies, the mayor tacitly endorsed it. He did not forcefully defend our city, its values, or its people.  "Mayor Adams spent years urging elected officials to go to DC and stand up for vulnerable New Yorkers. But on his own trip there today, he did little more than stand by. The mayor of New York is now an embarrassment on a national stage – but with or without him, New York itself must be a national beacon of light for sanctuary, safety, and human dignity.”

"It was refreshing to hear from a leader who is focused on service rather than self, and effectiveness rather than ego. I am heartened by the agenda that the Speaker put forward for the Council — strengthening public health and safety, expanding housing access and affordability, and protecting all New Yorkers, regardless of status. 

"Like my office, the Speaker emphasized ways to make our city’s systems work, closing gaps left by the mayor’s administration. This address laid out what good we can do when government is focused on the good of the people, not a person."

NEW YORK: New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement after Mayor Adams said today at a media availability that there was a "lynch mob mentality" driving criticism of him and his administration. 

"Mayor Adams has for many years used his identity as both a shield against any criticism and a sword to harm New Yorkers, especially ones who look like him. Racial double standards are real, yet the mayor is well aware and should acknowledge that words have different meanings depending on context. Those of us with good conscience have tried to tread lightly on this subject, a position the mayor knowingly abuses. It’s now clear that while it’s uncomfortable to say, it has to be made explicit.

"The second Black mayor in our history is actively undoing the decades of progress it took to elect even the first. It’s deeply disrespectful to both the leaders who worked to get us here and people who hope to carry us forward.

"As a Black man, it continues to be painful to watch this mayor in crisis. At the same time, Mayor Adams’ many failings are not of a community or an identity, but of one person and his administration. The sooner we can move forward from both, the better for our city, and for the moment this mayor has misused."

"In addition to the one she led for so many years, Dr. Hazel N. Dukes was an institution unto herself. ‘Mama Dukes’ earned that title as godmother to so many Black leaders in our city, state and country, working to lead generations of people who cared about a just world down the path she trail-blazed.

"As President of the NAACP New York State Conference, and long before, Dr. Dukes was on the front lines of the fight for civil rights. She was a force for racial equity and against racial injustice for decades, and her impact on our city and her Harlem home cannot be overstated. The void left by her passing cannot truly be filled, but those who follow must work to regain the ground she worked tirelessly to win, to advance her legacy and the movement she championed."

"Ramadan Mubarak to Muslims across our city and the world as they begin a month-long journey of reflection and prayer. 

"I know for many in the Muslim community, this is also a time of apprehension and fear as the future is uncertain, and the pain is present. We are all called, then, to solidarity in the spirit of peace, to combating hatred and Islamophobia, to human justice. Amid denigration from many sides and sources, we cannot allow the simple expression of identity to be villainized.

"Instead, we should take the periodic calls to prayer as calls to embrace our shared humanity, regardless of creed, and to practice zakat – giving what we have, doing what we can – in solidarity with suffering seen and unseen.

"May Ramadan lead to individual and community fulfillment, lasting peace, and growing solidarity of spirit. We pray in thanks to the Muslim community for all of its contributions to our city, and in hope for the advancement of generations to come."