‘We can’t find them’: Eric Adams says 500,000 children are missing due to border crisis after meeting with Tom Homan

“What I've learned also from sitting down with [Homan] and a representative from the Biden administration that was there in the meeting as well, we have 500,000 children who have sponsors in this country that we can't find. We can't find them. We don't know if they're doing child labor. We don't know if they're doing sex crimes. We don't know if they've been exploited. 500,000 children,” Adams said.

The mayor knocked the “level of hypocrisy” from those who “want to protect everyone but innocent individuals who are victims of crimes and children.” Adams said he wants to “support and protect children and innocent people that are victims of crime.” He said safety “means everything” to him as he kept repeating the number of children whose whereabouts are unknown.

Adams was combative with the media present as he accused them of having “preconceived notions and distorted views” about him and his administration. He declared that he would “protect the rights of immigrants in the city that are hard-working, giving back to the city in a real way,” but vowed that New York City would no longer be "a safe haven for those who commit repeated violent crimes against innocent migrants, immigrants and long-standing New Yorkers.”

The mayor said that is what he told Homan during their conversation as he asked the incoming border czar, “How do we go after those individuals who are repeatedly committing crimes in our city?” Adams is apparently only concerned about deporting criminal illegal immigrants and said those “who are law-abiding” can “continue to utilize the services that are open to the city, the services that they have a right to utilize,” but that the city “will not be a safe haven for those who commit violent acts. We don't do it for those who are citizens and we’re not going to do it for those who are undocumented.”

Homan said on Monday that deportations would begin in Chicago, where he faces Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) who is hostile to Homan and President-elect Donald Trump. The new border czar is the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and has said that “public safety threats, national security threats and fugitives” will be his priorities for deportations.