Mayor Adams accuses Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of escalating migrant feud
Dec. 27, 2023, 1:35 p.m.
A plane carrying migrants from El Paso to JFK Airport on Tuesday was diverted due to fog.
Mayor Eric Adams’ office is accusing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of escalating his practice of shipping migrants who arrive at the southern border to Democrat-led cities across the country.
On Wednesday, in a series of posts on social media platform X, Deputy Mayor for Communications Fabien Levy accused the Republican governor of trying to send an “unannounced & uncoordinated chartered plane” full of migrants to New York City on Tuesday before it was diverted to Philadelphia because of the weather.
The passengers were then transported to NYC via bus, Levy said, calling it an “inhumane act of treating human beings like political pawns.”
Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to Gothamist's request for comment. While he has not publicly taken credit for sending the plane, the incident comes a week after his office sent a similar flight carrying 120 migrants from El Paso, Texas, to Chicago.
That flight marked a change in strategy for Abbott, who had previously used buses to transport thousands of migrants from Texas to Democrat-led cities with policies that favor sheltering migrants, including NYC.
Flight-tracking data shows a chartered Eastern Airlines flight from El Paso to JFK Airport was diverted to Philadelphia on Tuesday and arrived at 7:31 p.m.
Heather Redfern, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia International Airport, confirmed that weather conditions caused the diversion. Some or all of the passengers were believed to be migrants, she said.
By 11 p.m. Tuesday, the passengers departed the Philadelphia airport for NYC by bus, Redfern said.
Power Malu, an activist who helps coordinate migrant arrivals in the city with the nonprofit Artists Athletes Activists, said the flight was carrying 188 passengers who were put on four chartered buses.
The group welcomed the migrants at the Port Authority Bus Terminal around 12:45 a.m. Wednesday, Malu said, adding that his organization coordinated and communicated with grassroots organizations in Texas and was awaiting the migrants' arrival.
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