Democratic mayors struggling with the influx of immigrants into their cities are seeking federal assistance and have requested to meet with President Joe Biden.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is leading the mayors of the nation’s largest cities — New York, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles — in asking the president for further help to ease the migrant crisis. In a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner, provided by New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s office, the mayors state they are appreciative of Biden’s efforts so far but that more changes must be made.
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“The crisis is we have folks here who desperately want to work. And we have employers here who desperately want to hire them. And we have a federal government that’s standing in the way of employers who want to hire employees who want to work,” Johnston said.
The mayors requested “an urgent meeting” with Biden and outlined four key steps to curb the crisis, which include more federal funding, expedited adjudication and work authorizations, increased access to work authorizations, and creating a collaborative federal approach about the flow of entry.
New York City has been trying to find a solution to housing thousands of arriving immigrants, posing serious humanitarian, economic, and public health threats. As the city has taken in more than 100,000 immigrants over the past year, the Adams administration is now offering asylum-seekers a free one-way ticket to go anywhere else.
Chicago has seen 17,000 new arrivals since August 2022, with Johnston saying the failure of federal policies has affected the city, as it lacks the resources needed to house everyone. Thousands of immigrants are being held at O’Hare International Airport or Chicago police stations.
The migrant crisis has lessened on the West Coast when compared to previous years, with a majority being bused in from Texas. Since June, 900 immigrants have arrived in Los Angeles, with many coming from Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R-TX) broader plan to bus immigrants to Democratic areas, such as New York City, according to Cal Matters.
“We believe we have a unique opportunity to work with the White House and Congress over these next few weeks to create an immigration and asylum system that will treat our newcomers with dignity and be fair and equitable to cities and neighborhoods across the country. Given the urgency of this issue we are all willing to travel to DC next week to sit down and discuss our shared interest in finding a successful resolution,” the letter read.
The letter was signed by Adams, Johnston, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
A White House spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the Biden administration is seeking an additional $1.4 billion in grant funding to ease the crisis and will continue to send requests to Congress.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting local jurisdictions hosting recently arrived migrants and we will continue working to deliver support in every way we can,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We have asked Congress for $1.4 billion in additional grant funding to support local communities and have ask for additional personnel to build upon the improvements DHS has made to processing work permits.”
Describing how the crisis is straining local and state budgets, the mayors requested $5 billion in the letter to cover additional resources and shelters.
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“Since last month, DHS has taken steps to reduce the average processing time for work permits for certain migrants to just 30 days,” the statement reads. “Through DHS, the Administration is establishing targeted work authorization clinics – including in each of these cities – allowing migrants to quickly complete the required biometrics and submit their work permit applications. We look forward to our continued partnership with cities and states across the country and continue to call on Congress to reform our broken immigration system.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the mayors for comment.
