New York City Mayor Eric Adams is being eviscerated by critics after claiming that immigrants could fill lifeguard positions because they are “excellent swimmers.”
“How can we have a large number of people in our city who are excellent swimmers and at the same time we need lifeguards?” the Democrat said at a City Hall briefing on Tuesday.
‘And the only obstacle is that we will not give them the right to work to become lifeguards. That just doesn’t make sense.’
Critics were quick to respond to Adams’ comments, with many accusing him of racism; The New York Immigration Coalition said the mayor’s comments were dehumanizing and divisive.
“New Yorkers look to Mayor Adams to unite our city, not to foment further division,” said CEO Murad Awawdeh.
‘Their comments imply that because some immigrants had to swim or cross water on their dangerous journeys to seek safety in the United States, they would make good lifeguards. “This comment is racist.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is being eviscerated by critics after claiming that immigrants could fill lifeguard positions because they are “excellent swimmers.”
Social media users also weighed in on the controversy and criticized Adams for his comments.
X user Michelle Backus wrote: ‘You can’t make this stuff up…’
‘That’s a parody, right… right?’ said another user X.
“He really needs to stop talking to the press,” another critic added.
Despite the heat, Adams’ office has stood by its comments, and his communications chief, Fabien Levy, applauded The City reporter Katie Honan when she asked if Adams was “familiar with the months-long certification process to become in lifeguard”.
Levy responded: ‘Hmm… it’s strange to continue assuming that the asylum seeker crisis will end by the end of summer. It’s been 2 years and we have no indication that Texas will stop sending immigrants to New York, yet there has been a lifeguard shortage the entire time we have been in office.’
Adams is no stranger to controversial statements: Last December he found himself in hot water after invoking 9/11 to describe his year and emphasize the city’s greatness.
The New York Immigration Coalition said the mayor’s comments were dehumanizing and divisive.
New York City’s leader said the shortfall could be resolved if work permits for immigrants could be expedited. In the photo: Honduran migrants heading to the United States wait for other migrants to jump from the international border bridge between Guatemala and Mexico into the Suchiate River in 2018.
More than 180,000 immigrants have arrived in New York since spring 2022. Pictured: Newly arrived migrants board a bus in front of the Floyd Bennett Field shelter on February 21, 2024.
More than 180,000 migrants have arrived in New York since spring 2022, many of them making dangerous journeys through bodies of water like the Rio Grande before traveling north.
However, Adams insisted that it is not just the much-needed lifeguard vacancies that could be filled by giving immigrants the right to work.
“If we had a plan for immigrants and asylum seekers that put the jobs we have in high demand, we could accelerate it,” Adams said.
‘If we had a plan that said, “If there is a shortage of food service workers and those who meet that criteria, we will expedite it,” if you have experience as a nurse and we have a nursing shortage, we would expedite it.’
New York City beaches will open Memorial Day weekend.
Last year, the season began with about 500 unfilled lifeguard vacancies, leading to partial closures in some parts.
Despite the heat, Adams’ office stood firm in its comments, and his communications chief, Fabien Levy, applauded The City journalist Katie Honan.
Adams insisted that it is not just much-needed lifeguard vacancies that could be filled by giving immigrants the right to work.
He suggested that skilled immigrants could fill nursing and fast-food worker jobs. Pictured: Migrants swim across the Rio Grande as they attempt to enter the United States on March 10, 2023.
Adams recently suggested that New York should reform its sanctuary city status. In the photo: Migrant family arriving at a shelter in Manhattan on March 26, 2024
This year, the base rate of pay has been increased to $22, with a $1,000 bonus for any lifeguard who works during the peak season.
“We have all these eligible people waiting to work with the skills we need to fill the positions, but we can’t allow them to work because the bureaucracy gets in the way,” Adams added.
New York has been designated a sanctuary city for the past few years, however, Adams recently called for a radical review of this designation as the city buckles under pressure from migrant arrivals.
He was accused of wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on no-bid contracts that pay for-profit companies “exorbitant fees” to run emergency shelters for immigrant asylum-seekers.