NEW YORK (PIX11) — The move by President Joe Biden to give Venezuelans temporary protected status, or TPS, could help ease the burden on New York City, which has been spending billions on the migrant crisis.

However, it is debatable how soon this will turn asylum seekers into job seekers and to what extent it might stave off steep budget cuts.

TPS should make it easier for Venezuelan nationals to apply for work permits more quickly than the asylum process, and the hospitality and farming industries have promised to hire en mass.

Adams’ office said that as soon as the federal government has the online TPS registration form available in the coming weeks, city workers will scour the more than 200 emergency shelter locations to help people sign up. However, those already working with an attorney can pre-load their documents online now.

The timeline for TPS approval ranges from weeks to months, although the federal government said it is working to get turnaround times for TPS down to 30 days.

Holding up a giant whiteboard, Adams did some migrant math to illustrate that the city will remain in crisis.

He showed how about 15,000 migrants of the 60,000 currently sheltered by the city are eligible Venezuelans who arrived before the end of July. He said of those, only about 9500 are of working age.

“I’ll take it, but I’m still getting 10,000 [migrants] a month, and there’s a substantial number still in our care,” Adams said.

Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy said the Administration, which two weeks ago ordered agencies to prepare for up to 15% budget cuts, expressed the hope this would relieve the budget crunch.

Critics of the move by President Biden argue that in the long run, it will make New York’s migrant crisis worse by enticing more people to come.