Exclusive: NYC officials claim Gov. Abbott bar-coding migrants sent on buses from Texas
NEW YORK -- City officials claim new video shows the latest indignity to asylum seekers sent to New York by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
The footage shows migrants arriving in the city on Wednesday morning wearing wristbands that appear to be intended to keep track of them. It's the latest accusation in the border war between Abbott and Mayor Eric Adams, CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported.
READ MORE: Mayor Adams' office: Biggest single-day arrival of migrants from Texas on Sunday
Five bus loads of asylum seekers arrived at the Port Authority Bus Terminal starting at 6:15 a.m. A total of 237 people -- men, women, children -- were subjected to a security system not seen in the city before Wednesday. The video was shared with CBS2 by city officials.
"Gov. Abbott is bar-coding people and treating them as less than human, as if they were cattle," said Manuel Castro, the city's Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs. "I was incredibly shocked when I saw children with bracelets and bar codes and security personnel treating them as less than human beings."
Castro was fuming after watching the latest group of asylum seekers get off the bus from Texas sporting the wrist bands, which were apparently put on them in Texas and then cut off as they disembarked at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, reportedly by security workers hired by Abbott.
Kramer asked Commissioner Castro why he believes the men, women and children were wearing the bar-coded bracelets on the trip from Texas.
"It appears to us that asylum seekers are being asked to wear these bracelets with these bar codes to intimidate them, to scare them into remaining on these buses until they arrive in New York City," Castro said.
Abbott has been sending busloads of asylum seekers from Texas border towns to New York City for weeks to bring attention to the migrant crisis affecting his state. The policy has severely taxed New York City services, as officials struggle to find housing, food and clothing for the new arrivals.
READ MORE: New York City schools preparing to enroll 1,000 migrant children who arrived on buses from Texas
The war of words between Adams and Abbott reached a new crescendo Wednesday when Abbott published an essay in the New York Post, accusing Adams of hypocrisy for asking Texas to not to send any more buses.
"Adams talked the talk about being a sanctuary city, welcoming illegal immigrants into the Big Apple with warm hospitality," Abbott wrote. "Talk is cheap. When pressed into fulfilling such ill-considered policies, he wants to condemn anyone who is pressing him to walk the walk."
"Someone get this man a dictionary," responded an Adams spokesman. "Hypocrisy is claiming you love America and then decrying the words on the Statue of Liberty. To be clear, Mayor Adams and New York City will continue to welcome asylum seekers with open arms. These individuals and families have been through hell, and they deserve more than being used as political pawns by a governor who cares about nothing more than re-election."
"We know that Gov. Abbott has been trying to dehumanize people, trying to foment anti-immigrant hatred, and while New York will continue to welcome asylum seekers, it's also our moral responsibility to denounce this kind of behavior by Gov. Abbott," Castro said.
Late Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson for Abbott told CBS2 the bracelets are "standard protocol" by the Texas Division of Emergency Management and help insure that the state is transporting migrants who have been processed and released by the federal government.