(DailyVantage.com) – New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared Friday on The View that last week’s election results were a clear mandate to fix America’s “broken” immigration system. His comments come as the Biden administration prepares to loosen key immigration restrictions, a move that critics argue undermines efforts to restore order at the southern border ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.
One controversial initiative is the rollout of an ICE Portal app in December, which allows migrants to check in with immigration officials remotely via a phone or computer rather than in person. The app has been criticized for significant flaws, including its inability to reliably track users on Android devices and failure to screen for criminal histories or outstanding warrants. The program’s first phase is expected to enroll up to 100,000 migrants, coinciding with record-breaking border crossings. In 2023 alone, the Biden administration oversaw 3.2 million illegal entries—an all-time high, surpassing 2022’s record of 2.7 million.
New York City has borne much of the burden, receiving over 223,000 migrants since spring 2022. As a sanctuary city, New York spent $3.7 billion on housing, food, and other support for migrants in the 2024 fiscal year. Republican Councilmember Joe Borelli criticized these policies, arguing that Biden’s actions in his final days seem designed to undermine the message voters sent against unchecked illegal immigration. Congressman Mike Lawler of New York’s 17th District echoed this sentiment, linking the timing of Biden’s decision to the recent sentencing of Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant who murdered Laken Reilly after being housed in a taxpayer-funded hotel in New York. “Loosening restrictions right after this trial defies all logic,” Lawler said.
Meanwhile, Adams has consistently pushed for federal reforms to ease the pressure on New York and other cities. While he emphasized the urgency of immigration reform, the Biden administration’s latest measures, such as allowing migrants to skip ICE check-ins, have fueled frustrations in communities already struggling with the influx of migrants.
With President-elect Trump vowing to use military assets to enforce mass deportations and potentially declare a national emergency, the stage is set for a dramatic reversal in U.S. immigration policy. Whether Biden’s late-term efforts will complicate these plans remains to be seen.
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