New York City's leaders are pressuring Joe Biden's administration for more assistance as the migrant crisis in the region continues to worsen as more asylum seekers arrive.
After months of primarily working behind the scenes, several municipal, business, and labor leaders in New York have started a public campaign to highlight how they believe the administration has failed to address the migrant crisis sufficiently.
New York City Migrant Crisis
On Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams staged a rally just outside the Thurgood Marshall US Courthouse, where he called on federal officials to hasten work authorization for migrants. The Democrat was joined by union leaders, state lawmakers, and asylum seekers. They stood beneath a red, white, and blue flag banner with the slogan, "The American Dream Works."
Adams said during the event that they are united on the same concept and belief that the precursor to sleep that allows one to experience the American dream is the right to work, prevail, and provide for your family, as per the New York Times.
A day before the rally, New York City Gov. Kathy Hochul met with several White House officials to urge the Biden administration for more support amid the migrant crisis. It came days after she changed tactics and publicly called on the president to hasten work authorizations for asylum seekers.
Hochul came out of the meeting in Washington hopeful. However, she was still dissatisfied that the help offered was "insufficient to address this crisis fully." More than 120 of the city's top business executives co-signed a letter earlier this week that was sent to President Joe Biden and congressional leaders, urging them to provide more federal assistance.
The situation comes as signs suggest the surge of migrants into New York has still not reached its peak. More than 2,900 asylum seekers arrived in the region from Aug. 21 to Aug. 27. The numbers were announced by the deputy mayor for health and human services, Anne Williams-Isom.
Need for Additional Federal Assistance
Following the meeting with Hochul, the White House pledged to provide "personnel, data, and resources" to identify thousands of migrants in New York City who are eligible for work permits. She said that while this is a critical first step, New Yorkers deserve and need more support, according to the New York Daily News.
The governor's office said Hochul spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients for roughly 150 minutes. Her statement described the talks as "frank and productive.
In early June, traditional shelters for asylum seekers reached near-capacity levels, prompting the city to create 206 emergency shelters. These include respite centers in school gymnasiums and parking lots.
The facilities were created to house migrants only for a few days, so they do not face the same kind of regulation as other shelters. The Time says many of these are bare-bones spaces that provide little more than a place to sleep and a few meals.
Related Article: Biden Cancels $72 Million Student Loans; Who Are Eligible This Time?
