New York City Mayor Eric Adams is a Democrat. But the way he was talking about the Democratic president’s response to the crisis of illegal aliens makes him sound like a rock-ribbed Republican.
“The president and the White House have failed this city,” said Adams. “[The] city is being destroyed by the migrant crisis,” the mayor added during a roundtable discussion in Washington featuring black mayors.
New York is in a financial bind. The city has already spent $817 million feeding and sheltering illegal aliens who have made their way north after the Biden administration released them shortly after apprehending them at the border. (The few thousand illegals bused north by Texas Governor Greg Abbott are comparatively insignificant).
The city is expected to spend at least $1.4 billion in total for the fiscal year ending June 30 and $2.9 billion next year. And that’s before the end of Title 42 and the expected crush of illegals inundating the border.
Adams tried hitting up New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, but she has her own budget problems. So it comes down to what Biden can do to help him out of the mess he’s in, and the answer is not too damn much.
He indicated he wants the federal government to grant Temporary Protected Status to asylum seekers so they can receive work permits because the city is currently experiencing a “black market” of workers without them.
“A substantial number of them, I believe, are being exploited, are being mistreated,” he said.
In a statement, the White House said it hopes to work with the city on its needs: “FEMA is also providing assistance to support the city as it receives migrants and will announce additional funding for receiving cities like New York City in the coming weeks, but we need Congress to provide the funds and resources we’ve requested to fix our long-broken immigration system.”
Perhaps the White House could use some of the $90 Billion in COVID aid — that’s $90 billion — that is “unobligated and unexpired,” according to the General Accountability Office as of Jan. 31, 2023.
Meanwhile, the New York state assembly and senate really want to assist — really. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins wants to be “helpful.”
“I know that members of my conference are very, very interested in making sure that we are helpful in this process,” she told reporters. “It’s not something that we’re spending a lot of time talking about, but there is a consensus that we do have to be helpful.”
Adams should be encouraged by all the “helpful” vibes being sent his way.
According to an internal city memo, Hochul’s plan would reimburse the city for up to $1 billion in migrant aid, which only covers 29% of expected shelter costs. This means that Biden is going to have to pony up or there are going to be a lot of hungry illegal aliens sleeping in the street.
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