NEW YORK (PIX11) — As the migrants continue to arrive in New York City, local politicians are again pleading with the president to grant temporary work waivers to ease the city’s financial burden.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams on Monday are expected to ask President Joe Biden for help because the 70,000 asylum seekers who have come to New York are unable to work.
“In the short time, we need to allow those who come to the country to work. If we could allow them to work it would take pressure off the local cities,” Adams said on MSNBC.
Zulaiha fled West Africa alone and traveled through at least six counties before making it to New York City.
But since she made it to the city, she, like thousands of other asylum seekers, is unable to legally work. Some are so desperate they carry mall children on their backs along busy highways selling food and flowers.
“I’m very happy because this is opportunity land no matter how hard it gets. I’ll take care of my mother, my babies my sisters,” she told PIX11 News.
Adams said the city has already spent over $1 billion and is expecting to spend $4 billion on the migrant crisis next year. While the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has allocated $30 billion, the crisis keeps growing.
The mayor is still looking for help from other New York counties to ease the burden but has been met with strong resistance from other municipalities, including Rockland County. Some Republican legislators on Long Island are planning legal action to stop the city from sending the migrants to their towns.
“The residents of Suffolk County should have not to shoulder the burden of the failed policies of the Biden and Hochul administrations,” said Republican leader Kevin McCaffrey.
“We have come from many different nations to this nation and we have come here legally. We are also a nation of rules and laws,” Congressman Nick Lalota said.
