Calls for the Biden administration to do more to help the city support migrants and asylum seekers continue to grow. They include lawmakers and elected officials on the city and state level.

While Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is working with the White House to secure more state aid and federally owned space to house migrants, other officials are urging President Biden to act faster, saying the city is running out of time and resources.

Meanwhile, Mayor Eric Adams joined Brooklyn Borough President, Antonio Reynoso outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall Tuesday to once again call on the federal government to help the city with the influx of migrants.

“As this city continues to evolve that a national crisis, a humanitarian crisis of a level that has never been experienced before is dropped into the lap of this city with no support that we deserve,” Adams said.


What You Need To Know

  • Mayor Eric Adams joined Brooklyn Borough President, Antonio Reynoso, other elected leaders and immigrant rights groups outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall Tuesday to once again call on the federal government to help the city with the influx of migrants

  • Tuesday’s news conference comes after recent published reports say the Biden Administration refused to give Gov. Kathy Hochul permission to use Floyd Bennett Field, a federally owned property, to house migrants.

  • As the city’s shelter system continues to buckle under the weight of New Yorkers in need of housing plus the addition of 60-thousand migrants and asylum seekers currently in the city’s care, groups that cater to immigrant communities said their organizations are also bursting at the seams

Tuesday’s news conference comes after recent published reports say the Biden administration refused to give Hochul permission to use Floyd Bennett Field — a federally owned property — to house migrants. Hochul has said she’s working with administration.

“It’s one thing to not help us,” Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said. “It’s another thing to get in our way, which is what is seems like the federal government is doing. Not only are they not wanting to help us. They want to stop us from making progress.”

The elected leaders were joined by lawmakers from both parties — criticizing the Biden administration for failing to support the city in trying to cope with nearly 100,000 migrants who have flooded the city since last spring.

“We’re asking the federal government and we’re inviting the president to actually come down and look and see what is actually happening here,” Assemblywoman Marcela Mitaynes, a Democrat, said.

“I’m a conservative republican here…probably the only one here right now,” Republican Assemblymember Lester Chang said. “But we have to understand what created this problem was the failed administration’s policy of migration.”

Adams has also implored the Biden administration to issue an executive order to speed up work authorizations so that migrants in the city can legally work to support themselves.

“There’s no reason the national government is not staying true to the basic principle of the American experience to allow you the right to work,” Adams said. “It is unacceptable.”

As the city’s shelter system continues to buckle under the weight of New Yorkers in need of housing plus the addition of 60,000 migrants and asylum seekers currently in the city’s care, groups that cater to immigrant communities said their organizations are also bursting at the seams.

“We need the resources,” Lorena Kouroiias, Mextica Executive Director, said. “We can’t let this happen again and again. Because [of] the consequences in five years, we’re all going to experience.”

Brooklyn Borough President Reynoso also said the crisis could also have political consequences for democrats.

“We have congressional seats that we’re going to be fighting for in New York that are deeply important to winning the house in the coming elections and I fear that the republicans will use what’s happening here through fear and scapegoating,” he said.

Hochul said she’s been in touch with the White House daily for the last few months to find a solution. She also said her administration is eyeing other federal sites to house migrants and is seeking the White House’s support in doing so.

President Biden recently sent a top aid to meet with Adams about the migrant issue and a federal assessment team remains on the ground to identify solutions to the problem.