New York Governor Shifts Tone, Pressures Biden To Speed Up Migrant Work Permits

New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) shifted her tone toward the White House on Thursday, pressing President Biden to speed up work authorizations for the tens of thousands of illegal migrants who have flooded into New York in recent months.

Up to this point, the governor had refrained from directly criticizing the Biden administration over the crisis, but that changed during Thursday’s 10-minute address live-streamed from Albany.

“We’ve managed thus far without substantive support from Washington,” Hochul said, but “New York has shouldered this burden for far too long.”

Hochul said the White House has not responded to her requests for expedited migrant work permits or for using more federal properties as emergency shelters.

“There does not appear to be a solution to this federal problem any time soon. This crisis originated with the federal government, and it must be resolved through the federal government,” the governor said.

Hochul also said she sent a letter to Biden on Thursday outlining four executive actions the president can take to help New York handle the overwhelming migrant issue, which includes expediting work authorization.

“We have countless unfilled jobs that are begging for someone to just take them,” she said.

New York City is approaching a breaking point as it tries to metabolize the tens of thousands of illegal migrants who have streamed into the city over the past year.

Since April of last year, more than 90,000 migrants have arrived in New York City. As of last month, about 55,000 are still being housed on the city’s dime, causing New York’s homeless shelters to hit capacity.

The city has already poured $1.2 billion into helping the migrants since last summer.

The crisis appears to have flustered New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has blamed everyone, including Texas, the White House, and New York’s state government for sticking the city with the emergency.

In May, Adams accused Texas Governor Greg Abbott of targeting “black mayors” by sending migrants to their cities specifically. However, the 7,900 migrants Texas has bused to New York are only a tiny portion of the migrants arriving in the city.

“It’s going to get worse before it gets better if we don’t get help from the national government,” Adams said in July.

In upstate New York, Erie County demanded Adams stop sending illegal migrants to the area after two alleged sexual assaults involving migrants.

Authorities announced earlier this month that a migrant from Venezuela was charged with raping a woman in front of a 3-year-old child. Three days later, a second migrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was arrested and charged with sex abuse and unlawful imprisonment after he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman who was working to provide services to the migrants.

The State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo decided to evict 44 migrants after parents sounded the alarm about the alleged sexual assaults.

About 82% of voters think the migrant situation in New York has become a “serious problem,” and 58% said New York has now done enough and should try to slow the influx of migrants, according to a Siena College poll released this week.