New York City Mayor Eric Adams joined forces with Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) and fellow Democratic leaders to urge President Joe Biden’s administration to provide paths for emergency assistance to deal with the immigrant crisis.
“We received, last week, over 5,800 asylum seekers,” Adams said during a Monday press conference in Brooklyn.
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Adams said the immigrants coming to the city are eager to work, but the city lacks the resources to provide them with permits. He said the city can’t “stay in emergency mode.”
“We have one message: Let them work,” Adams said.
Hochul and Reps. Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler asked the Biden administration to loosen the 180-day waiting period before migrants can attain a legal work permit.
“We’re calling on the White House, the United States Department of Homeland Security, to ensure our newest Americans can work lawfully and build stable lives for themselves,” Adams said.
The group of Democrats pushed to expand the White House’s “temporary protected status” for another 18 months, and they pushed for it to be expanded to cover more countries that migrants are arriving from. The Department of Homeland Security currently has a limited designated list of countries whose individuals qualify for temporary protected status.
“At the same time of this historic labor shortage, we have this influx of people to New York,” Hochul said. “They’re eager to work here. They came here in search of work, and can become part of our economy.”
While Adams has been openly critical of Biden and his administration’s handling of the migrant crisis, especially since Title 42 expired on May 11, other Democrats have not been so forward about the problems in New York City.
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Earlier this month, Adams released his response to asylum seekers in the city in a blueprint titled “The Road Forward,” calling the influx an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis,” in a press conference.
Adams noted during the conference that to report that the city is not having a “crisis of this proportion,” is ineffective and “is hurting our fight.”
