Democrats in New York City have long touted a rule under which no one seeking public accommodation can be denied shelter.

However, those same Democrats are now seeking to have that requirement overturned as illegal migrants continue to pour in. 

According to the Associated Press, a 1981 court decision forced the city to provide temporary housing to any homeless person who asked for it.

Mayor: "It's going to come to your neighborhoods."

However, New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams now complains that the rule has become unsustainable given the number of illegal immigrants who have arrived in recent years.

"Our compassion may be limitless, but our resources are not. This is the budgetary reality we are facing if we don’t get the additional support we need," the Associated Press quoted Adams as saying in August.

"New Yorkers did not create an international humanitarian crisis. But our city’s residents have been left to deal with this crisis almost entirely on our own," he insisted.

Fox News reported that Adams reiterated the same message last month during a town hall meeting on the Upper West Side, saying, "We had a $12 billion deficit that we're going to have to cut. Every service in this city is going to be impacted. All of us. It's going to come to your neighborhoods."

Bill Clinton supports housing migrants in Mexico

In response, the city asked a judge on Tuesday for permission to suspend the shelter rule given its dwindling resources.

Among those expressing support for the move is former President Bill Clinton, who discussed the issue this past weekend with radio hose John Catsimatidis on his WABC show "The Cats Roundtable."

Interestingly, Clinton also advocated for something similar to former President Donald Trump's "Remain in Mexico" policy, a policy which was once vilified by Democrats.

"The [US immigration] system is built to handle about 400,000 … We should build more housing just over the Rio Grande, and Mexico, I think, would support that," Clinton stated.

Liberal attorney wants shelter rule to remain in place

However, some leftists want the shelter policy to remain intact. They include Josh Goldfein, a staff attorney at The Legal Aid Society.

"What is the alternative?" Goldfein asked the Associated Press. "If we do not have a right to shelter, if we are turning people away from the shelter system, if people are now living in the streets, in the subways, in the parks, is that the outcome that they want?"

"That is something we have not seen in decades. I don't think any New Yorker wants to see that. I don't think city officials want to see that but that will be the result if they were to prevail here."