Fight crime, not Texas gov

SINCE his election, Mayor Adams has consistently focused on crime and the reasons behind its lethal rise. He has battled fellow Democrats in the City Council and Albany over their changes to bail laws and other measures that make the problem worse.

Yet with NYPD statistics showing he has made only marginal progress, Adams’ attention seems to be wandering. By agreeing to accept thousands of migrants who crossed the southern border seeking asylum and engaging in a fight with the governor of Texas, the mayor is taking his eye off the ball.

Simply put, he can’t be a lawand-order mayor and also run a sanctuary city. Unvetted, unlimited immigration will further erode public safety and order, undercutting the whole point of his election.

Officials report that more than 3,000 illegal border crossers already are crowded into city shelters, and many more are coming. Most if not all likely arrived on secret flights the federal government chartered as it disperses the unprecedented wave of people from Latin America and around the world allowed to enter the United States under President Biden’s tenure.

Fox News reported Tuesday that American officials say the total number who crossed the Mexican border in the last 18 months surpasses 4 million, with 900,000 classified as “got aways,” meaning they escaped apprehension.

The remainder surrendered to authorities, with many seeking asylum. Under Biden’s ridiculous welcome-wagon policies and the assistance of open-border activists, the asylum seekers are registered, given a court date, travel voucher, food debit cards and set free in the country. Some are also reportedly given cellphones.

The volume is beyond anything ever seen and the border states bear the biggest burden. Frustrated that Washington has failed to stem the flow, the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona decided they would also spread the pain around.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he wants cities run by Democrats to share in the suffering in hopes they will persuade Biden to close the border.

To that end, Abbott sent some 6,100 migrants to Washington DC, with buses dropping off passengers at Union Station, leading Mayor Muriel Bowser to ask for National Guard help.

Earlier this month, the first bus from Texas arrived in New York. Others have followed and many more are coming.

“In addition to Washington, DC, New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city,” Abbott said last week.

Abbott is in a re-election fight and leads Beto O’Rourke by seven points in a recent poll. In a sign of how badly Adams is misreading the situation, New York’s mayor threatened to help fellow Dem O’Rourke.

“I already called all my friends in Texas and told them how to cast their votes. I am deeply contemplating taking a busload of New Yorkers to go to Texas and do some good old-fashioned door knocking because we have to . . . get him out of office,” Adams said recently.

Does he really believe Texans would vote Abbott out of office because he’s sending a relative handful of the uninvited migrants to New York? It’s far more likely the policy is a political winner for Abbott.

Indeed, Abbott’s team saw the mayor’s threat as “mission accomplished,” according to the Dallas Morning News. It noted that Texas Republicans gleefully seize any chance to use high-tax, leftist-run states like New York and California as political foils.

Even former New York Gov. David Paterson calls Abbott’s strategy politically “brilliant.” A Democrat, Paterson said “Abbott did something to improve his political standing . . . in a dramatic way.”

By the same standard, Adams might win a few political points among Dems for accusing Abbott of lacking compassion, but ultimately his mayoralty and political future will rise or fall based on crime. With the city awash in guns and illegal drugs and retail theft reaching epidemic proportions, having thousands of migrants here, most of whom appear to be single adult males who are not allowed to work, does not sound like a recipe for success.

No-win battle

Other migrants are coming with children at a time when the school system already faces a barrage of criticism from parents over the poor quality of many schools.

It’s also concerning that, instead of gratitude, some of the newcomers and their advocates are complaining that their “human rights” are being violated by their treatment in New York.

To be fair, Adams has petitioned Biden for financial help. “If we do not get these urgently needed resources, we may struggle to provide the proper level of support our clients deserve, while also facing challenges as we serve both a rapidly growing shelter population and new clients who are seeking asylum,” he said.

Meanwhile, City Hall might lease an upscale Times Squarearea hotel for migrants only, with accommodations far superior to shelters. The Post reports that Row NYC, formerly known as the Milford Plaza, will be leased by the city for 600 migrants and their families.

Although it’s not clear what the city would pay if the deal closes, normal daily rates for rooms with one bed start at $414 while rooms with two beds start at $445.

The cost, while important, is not the whole problem and Adams should be wary of getting sucked into a no-win battle. For one thing, Abbott is obviously right that the feds are derelict in their duty to control immigration and forcing cities and states to absorb so many people will create problems and defy political consensus for years.

For another, the last thing New York needs is for its mayor to be distracted by anything that does not lead to a reduction of crime. Adams has more than enough trouble on his plate without looking for more in Texas.