City Comptroller Brad Lander had a “productive” day discussing federal support for the Big Apple’s migrant crisis with White House officials — but left Washington admitting more work needs to be done to help eligible asylum seekers join the workforce.
On Tuesday, Lander — who has often criticized Mayor Eric Adams’ handling of the crisis — made his first trip to DC to plead for more federal aid to help New York City support the 66,000 asylum seekers who have inundated its shelters.
The lefty pol met with staffers from the Labor Department and Homeland Security as well as the senior adviser to the president Tom Perez.
Lander told The Post Tuesday that he felt “encouraged” by his conversations with Biden administration officials but added that the city and feds are lacking a key cog to get incoming migrants on their feet and out of the NYC shelter system.
“I think there are some big gaps to fill, like workforce development, support in case management, … I have thought it was a need for months, but it’s even clearer to me now that we’ve got to find a way to do that,” he said.
The comptroller said once eligible migrants are granted work authorization, there is currently no system in place to help them find jobs and get hired. No one has stepped up to provide case management and workforce development services, according to the Democrat.
“In other refugee resettlement processes, where folks have a case management organization like a provider — that just doesn’t exist here. That remains a need and that’s not yet being provided, really, by anyone,” Lander said.
He said the ultimate goal is to first process the estimated 15,000 asylum seekers who are eligible for temporary protective status by the end of January, granting them work authorization to enter the workforce immediately.
But they won’t be able to get to work immediately if they can’t find a job. Lander said the federal government needs to provide more resources so the plan to get migrants earning a living and contributing to the city actually pans out.
“Immigrants make New York City. But to help them land on their feet, we’ve got to have more resources and coordination from the White House, from DHS — just like we provide refugee resettlement for folks from Afghanistan and Ukraine,” the comptroller said in a video from DC.
The migrant crisis has had a crippling effect on the city’s coffers, leaving New York to foot an estimated $12 billion bill to provide care for the thousands of asylum seekers who found their way to the Big Apple.
The feds have promised to provide just $142 million to the city — leading Adams to order controversial budget cuts of up to 15% at every city agency to cover at least some of the gaping difference.
Lander told The Post he pushed Perez, the White House adviser, to find other potential sources of funding to ease the burden on New York City.
“I think a lot of people are trying to find creative ways at least to shake loose some additional money,” he said, adding that any additional funding from Congress would likely be just a drop in the bucket — if it could even pass the House.
Lander said the barriers to additional money are not the White House or DHS but “red state members of Congress” who aren’t interested in the point of view of the comptroller or mayor of New York City.