Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York congressional delegation begged President Joe Biden Friday to dramatically boost aid to the state as it grapples with a deluge of migrants from the U.S. Southern Border.
“Given the size of the humanitarian crisis, the State lacks the infrastructure, facilities, and resources necessary to meet the immediate demand to house and meet other basic needs of the large numbers of migrant arrivals,” Hochul said in a May 12 letter to Biden.
Hochul is requesting the feds erect temporary housing at military installations and Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, increase funding, and allow migrants to work by removing a requirement they wait at least 180 days after requesting asylum.
And the situation is only going to get worse following the end of a pandemic immigration rule that allowed officials to expel people with relative ease if they crossed the border illegally.
With Title 42 officially rescinded, and the anticipated weeks-long construction process it would take to construct temporary shelters, I ask for this request to be granted immediately,” Hochul, who declared a state of emergency earlier this week, said in the letter.
In a call with county officials Friday, Hochul blamed federal immigration policies for unleashing the waves of migrants – many of whom are escaping poverty and political dysfunction in Central American countries like Venezuela – that pushed Big Apple to the “breaking point” since last summer.
“This is a result of federal responsibility around the borders, and to the extent that has not been successful. We need to make sure that the federal government finds ways to help us,” she said.
But local officials like Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said there was blame to go around considering the dozens of migrants the New York City Mayor Eric Adams reportedly sent with little notice to Newburgh on Thursday despite a local order aimed at barring their arrival.
“We have a complete disaster here in Orange County that is self-induced by the city of New York,” Neuhaus said.
The Adams administration has denied that it did not give enough notice to local and state officials about the plans to bus the asylum seekers.
A lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union aims to undo local orders in Orange and Rockland counties preventing migrants from using local motels and short-term rentals.
But lawmakers from both parties have emphasized that an ultimate solution for the crisis ought to come from the federal government considering its purview over immigration matters.
Democratic members of the state Congressional delegations, including U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, penned a Friday letter to Biden demanding that he loosen work rules for migrants.
GOP members of the U.S. House joined colleagues from the other side of the aisle in a Friday meeting with Hochul about the escalating crisis.
“[We] agreed to pursue additional federal funding and resources to allow New York to better respond to this ongoing situation and continue urging President Biden to extend work authorization to asylum seekers so they can join the workforce and become active participants in our communities,” Hochul and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan), dean of the state congressional delegation, said in a joint statement following the meeting.