Policy

White House still mum on Hochul’s most recent plea for migrant assistance

As county leaders ring the alarm bells about the migrant crisis, the governor said the president has not yet responded to a letter she sent on Friday.

Gov. Kathy Hochul sent a letter asking for federal assistance with the migrant crisis.

Gov. Kathy Hochul sent a letter asking for federal assistance with the migrant crisis. Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

Gov. Hochul said on Monday that the White House has not yet responded to a letter she sent late last week asking for federal assistance with the migrant crisis facing the state. In the plea sent Friday afternoon, the governor asked President Joe Biden to open up military facilities to house migrants coming to New York. 

Hochul told reporters that the Biden administration hasn’t given her an answer about opening up those federal facilities even as more local leaders say that they’re ill-equipped to handle the expected influx of migrants. “I don’t have a response yet,” Hochul said. “I think it’s a very reasonable request to recognize that it is a federal problem, and there are federal assets, federal facilities, one that we think would lend itself easily to standing up a large-scale operation.” Hochul added that she’s not “offended” that the White House hasn’t gotten back to her yet given that it’s only Monday, but promised that “they’ll certainly be hearing from me” if she doesn’t get an answer soon. A spokesperson for the governor said that the Biden administration has confirmed it received the letter. So far, there does not appear to have been an uptick in immigration after Title 42 was lifted at midnight on Thursday, and a major influx has not materialized.

Among the specific facilities Hochul mentioned in the letter to the White House is Floyd Bennett Field in Queens, which is managed by the National Park Service. New York City Mayor Eric Adams had suggested the location just a day before she sent the letter, although The City reported that neither Floyd Bennett Field nor the National Park Service had received a request from the governor to use the facility. 

Hochul on Monday also said she is calling on the Biden administration to expedite the process for migrants to receive work authorization. “I’ve been asking for that since last summer,” she said, adding that along with money, it has been her top ask of the White House. Adams and county leaders have asked for that as well.

New York City has faced a crisis for months

0, with Adams calling on both the state and federal government for assistance. The recently passed state budget includes an additional $1 billion for the city to address the influx of migrants. Hochul also declared a state of emergency for all of New York Tuesday in anticipation of the end of a pandemic-era border policy that allowed officials to turn away most migrants that attempted to come through the southern border.

The governor discussed the White House letter to open federal military facilities with county leaders during a meeting last week to discuss how to handle the crisis. “We’re going to work with the counties,” Hochul told reporters Monday. “Some counties are looking and very welcoming, and so there are conversations about what that looks like.” Westchester is one such county, with County Executive George Latimer saying that officials have a moral obligation to help

But not every county is planning to be welcoming. The Republican-led counties of Orange and Rockland declared states of emergency in response to the crisis and issued executive orders to prevent migrants from being housed in shelters and hotels after Adams announced a plan to send roughly 300 migrants north. Hochul last week said the state would look into the legality and constitutionality of those orders.

County leaders on both sides of the aisle, however, agree that they are in desperate need of additional resources to handle the crisis. The New York State Association of Counties laid out some of those issues during a press conference on Monday. Association Executive Director Stephen Acquario that the federal government should provide information about asylum-seekers to help counties match them with appropriate needs, reiterated a call that it should waive the 180-day waiting period for migrants to receive work authorization and demanded the federal government cover 100% of the cost of housing and public assistance. “We don’t want letters,” Acquario said. “We want results.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.