Mayor Adams heading to Colombian jungle in Latin America tour amid tense migrant crisis

Mayor Eric Adams said Monday that he will embark on a four-day trip to Latin America this week, a journey that comes amid growing tensions between the city and the White House over the ongoing migrant crisis.

Adams will depart Wednesday and visit Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia, according to the travel advisory released by his office. On his final day, he said he plans to visit the dangerous Colombian jungle crossing along the Colombia-Panama border known as the Darién Gap, which connects South and Central America and is known to be a grueling part of the journey to reach the United States for hundreds of thousands of migrants over the past year.

The trip to the three countries also comes as the Adams administration has issued increasingly aggressive rhetoric and policies around migrants, which came to a head over the weekend when Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the mayor’s chief advisor, said during a PIX-11 interview that federal officials, including Biden, needed to “close the borders,” a talking point and policy often embraced by hard-right Republicans.

New York City taxpayers will not be footing the bill for the trip, according to the mayor’s office. The visit to Mexico will be sponsored by the U.S.-Mexico foundation, a nonprofit consisting of business and civil leaders seeking to enhance the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. Adams will pay for the Ecuador and Colombia portions of the trip, according to Kayla Mamelak, a mayoral spokesperson.

This is not the first time Adams has traveled to the border to put pressure on the Biden administration to address the crisis. In January, the mayor made a 24-hour trip to El Paso, Texas. City officials said they are distributing flyers along the southern border and sending social media messages warning newcomers not to come to the Big Apple.

According to the advisory, the intention of the trip is to “foster relationships, learn more about the path asylum-seekers take to get to the United States, and meet with local and national leaders about the situations on the ground leading to an influx of asylum-seekers arriving in the U.S.”

However, Adams’ visit will likely draw more national attention to how New York has become the epicenter of the migrant crisis in the U.S., something which may further inflame tensions with the White House.

The mayor has pressured both Gov. Kathy Hochul and Biden to help the city manage the crisis, which he said is costing the city billions and forcing him to make severe budget cuts.

Hochul on Monday supported Adams’ decision to head south, telling reporters, “There’s never a downside to gathering more information.”

“[The mayor's] also just trying to get projections on what we can anticipate, and what the thought process is, and maybe perhaps to get the word out about the limitations on space and jobs,” Hochul said.

While the expansion and redesignation of a federal immigration program — known as Temporary Protected Status — kicks off Tuesday for Venezuelan newcomers who’ve been in the country continuously as of July 31 or prior, Hochul warned that the expedited work authorization and other benefits associated with TPS are for a narrow group of people.

“The door is not wide open in terms of saying there’s a job for everyone who arrives,” she said.

City officials have struggled to say exactly how many Venezuelans in the shelter system would qualify under that new policy.

City Hall estimated that more than 61,000 migrants are staying in hotels or emergency shelters, although the Adams administration has imposed new restrictions that are forcing adult migrants to leave after 30 days and reapply for shelter if they have no other options.

At the same time, Adams has weakened the city’s right-to-shelter policies around migrants and is waging a court challenge to long-standing rules around the homeless.

Critics have accused Adams of adopting an increasingly hostile and stance towards migrants. Last month, Adams sparked controversy himself when he warned that the migrant crisis “will destroy New York City."

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the TPS eligibility. Venezuelans are eligible for TPS if they've been continuously living in the United States prior to July 31st or as of that date.