The Biden administration Tuesday pushed the blame onto Congress for migrant work-visa delays — as Big Apple Mayor Eric Adams warned local unemployed asylum seekers are being forced into the sex trade.
Instead of offering up a fresh plan to ease the escalating migrant crisis that is crippling Gotham, White House officials simply rehashed their previous supposed solutions — and further evaded responsibility by suggesting the private sector step in to help do their job.
The Biden officials — in an asylum-seeker briefing call with New York-based media outlets — pointed the finger at Congress for not taking action to implement comprehensive immigration reform to speed up work authorizations for the tens of thousands of migrants currently in the Big Apple.
Under current US immigration laws, migrants can’t be granted a work permit until 180 days after they’ve submitted their application seeking asylum — sparking delays of roughly seven to eight months before they can be legally employed.
The Biden officials said during the briefing that the federal Department of Homeland Security would continue its efforts to make sure migrants understand their eligibility to apply for work authorization.
The federal officials also suggested ways the private sector could step in — including getting businesses to provide pro bono legal services and tap into advertising resources to help inform asylum seekers on how to apply for the permits.
Adams has relentlessly called on President Biden and the federal government to expedite the permits, insisting the influx of migrants pouring into the city will “destroy” the Big Apple.
Hizzoner warned Tuesday that a “black market” of migrant employment was already emerging across the city as a result of the lengthy delays.
“Now people are working. So we created a black market of employment, low wages, women have been sexually exploited. Workers have been treated unfairly,” Adams told CBS “Eyewitness News Morning.”
“So you see an increase in prostitution in the city because people have to provide for their families, and it is really going to impact the quality of life in our city,” he said.
Adams argued the migrants could help plug current labor shortage gaps across the city.
“That’s the the irony of it. Like we needed lifeguards over the summer. Yeah, we could have filled those jobs. We need various levels of employment,” Adams told the outlet.
“And so we’re hoping that the federal government looks at what we’re seeing and make it happen because I can’t break the law and say, ‘I’m going to allow you to work anyway,’ ” he said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul claimed earlier this month that the feds had committed to sending DHS staffers to the city to help process asylum applications.
The governor said she requested a “high number” of DHS workers during a meeting with White House officials.
Officials made not mention of that plan during Tuesday’s briefing, and it remained unclear when, or how many, federal employees were being shipped to the Big Apple.