Hochul announces thousands of jobs for Venezuelan migrants
NEW YORK - New York Governor Kathy Hochul has unveiled an ambitious initiative, set to open up an online portal beginning Tuesday for Venezuelan migrants in New York City to apply for thousands of jobs.
"This is a big deal," Governor Hochul said.
According to Hochul, nearly 400 companies from across the state are stepping up, offering 18,000 jobs to eligible Venezuelan migrants, with roughly a quarter of the work in the restaurant industry.
Half of the jobs are in New York City, while the rest spread throughout the state.
Hochul said at the announcement that Venezuelans make up about 40% of the nearly 120,000 migrants who have come to New York.
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"The New York City food industry needs the talent, grit, and creativity of the migrants coming to New York," said Leslie Abbey, CEO of Hot Bread Kitchen.
Also on board is the NYC Hospitality Alliance and New York City restaurateur Danny Meyer.
"We are going to be a better city and better hospitality industry when we do this," Meyer said at Monday's announcement.
The move comes a day after Hochul appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation, saying the federal government needs to implement limits on who can come across the border.
"It is too open right now," she told host Margaret Brennan.
It also came a day after Adams’ chief adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin said on WPIX that the federal government should "close the border."
The mayor likely would have been asked about migrants on Monday, as well, but his staff has implemented a new policy: off-topic questions will only be taken one day a week.
"We're going to have one day a week so that I can do the business of running this very complicated city," Adams said Monday.
A mayoral spokesperson tells Fox5 Lewis-Martin’s views on closing the border are not the views of the administration.
On Wednesday, Adams will depart on a trip that includes stops in Mexico, Ecuador, and Colombia to learn more about the border crisis and the path along which the migrants follow to get to the United States.