New York City Democrat Mayor Eric Adams insists he never said "come one, come all" to his sanctuary city, which is being overrun by migrants transported from the southern border.
Adams has been critical of President Joe Biden's unwillingness and inability to police the U.S.-Mexico border during the crisis that began soon after Biden took office.
"I never said, 'Come one, come all.' People attempted to give that impression, that has never been my impression," Adams said Thursday during an appearance on the "Sid & Friends" radio show.
"Our hearts are big, but our resources are not endless. And I made that clear a year ago, stated, this should not be happening to New York City. How people tried to interpret that and spin that, that is not the reality."
Bloomberg reported Wednesday that New York City officials were planning to distribute flyers to migrants in shelters and at the southern border that say the city's resources "have been exhausted" and they won't get any help finding work.
About 116,000 migrants have arrived in the Big Apple since the spring of last year, The New York Times reported. That's when Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott began busing migrants to New York City.
After the first buses arrived, Adams met the migrants to welcome them to his city. He also has housed some migrants in four-star hotels.
"What I did is what all of us have … we have all done in this city," Adams told host Sid Rosenberg. "There's a reason the Statue of Liberty, folks, sits in our harbor. I don't care if you came from Irish ancestry, if you came from Italian, if you came here from Greece, if you came from the Caribbean, if you came from Africa, all of us wanted an opportunity to pursue the American dream.
"And I said, I'm not going to treat people in an undignified way. When early groups came here, they had the right to work and to participate in the American Dream."
Adams now prefers migrants go elsewhere.
"I can't stop people from crossing the border and I do not have the authorization to deport people. That is not within my powers as a mayor," Adams told Rosenberg. "What I must do is whoever comes to the city, I must ensure that they're treated with the dignity and respect that our ancestors were treated with."
The U.S. Border Patrol in August arrested at least 91,000 migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in family groups, a record high, The Washington Post reported.