Mayor Eric Adams of New York City recently whined, "Our [NYC's] cup has basically runneth over" and the city has "no more room for migrants."  He further claimed, "New York City is carrying the weight of a national problem" after taking in 90,000 migrants in about the last year and four months.

By my calculation, NYC is about 2.5% of the population of the U.S.  (NYC population: 8.5 million divided by U.S. population: 340 million.)  The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimated in late 2022 that 5.5 million migrants have come into the US under the Biden administration.  It turns out the 2.5% of 5.5 million is 137,500.

So, by accepting 90,000 migrants, NYC and Mayor Adams have accepted 65% of their fair share.  So they are 35%, or 47,500 migrants, short.  NYC is not "carrying the weight of a national problem."  And as surely Mayor Adams knows and would admit, this is not a matter of "full" or not, but rather NYC doing the humane thing and taking in its fair share of new migrants.

Of course, there are many reasons on both side of the issue why we should expect NYC and Mayor Adams to do even more than their share.  NYC is a sanctuary city.  As such, it created part of the incentive for migrants to come to the U.S. and should do more than its share.  NYC is reportedly losing population.  That means it has more room, more empty spaces available for migrants than other growing U.S. cities.  Finally, New Yorkers believe and would be happy to proclaim that they are morally superior to us non–New Yorkers.  They are more progressive than us and proud of it.  As such proud, morally superior progressives, they should willingly do more than their share.

So, whether you favor strict border enforcement or open borders, Mayor Adams and NYC are not yet doing their fair share in taking in Biden-era migrants.  NYC is not even quite to two thirds of its fair share.

There are lots of reasons to hold morally superior progressive NYC to a higher standard.  It is not a matter of "full" or not, but rather a matter of NYC living up to the humane standards it set for itself and others.

James L. Swofford is a professor of economics in the Department of Economics, Finance, and Real Estate at the University of South Alabama.

Image via Picryl.