NYC migrant crisis: Gov. Hochul calls on federal government to help
NEW YORK CITY - Mayor Eric Adams will headline a Thursday rally in Foley Square, calling for expedited federal work authorization for asylum seekers.
The mayor has said not allowing migrants to work is "un-American."
A White House official cautioned only Congress can change the six-month waiting period before migrants are legally allowed to work.
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Demonstrators clashed with counter-protesters on the corner of E. 86th Street and East End Ave., where the situation escalated into physical violence, resulting in five arrests.
Both the mayor, and Gov. Kathy Hochul, have been calling on the federal government to provide more help.
Hochul met Wednesday at the White House with Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for over two hours.
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Hochul said in an interview on NY1 that she secured a commitment from DHS to send staffers to Manhattan in the coming weeks to help process asylum seekers. She spoke positively of the meeting.
"This is a federal problem, and I need more people to be able to work," she said. "I need more federal intervention. I need them to surge up help, and after today’s meeting, I feel more confident that we’ll get to a place where this starts to decline. But we’re not anywhere near there yet."
According to city officials, nearly 3,000 migrants arrived in New York City between Aug. 21 and Aug. 27. Over 59,000 migrants remain in the city’s care as of Sunday.
Since July 2022, around 19,000 students in temporary housing have enrolled in city schools, according to NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks.
The upcoming school year is the latest hurdle the city is navigating in this migrant crisis.
Currently, there are over 3,400 teachers in the city’s public school system certified to teach English as a new language, and at least 1,700 other teachers are fluent in Spanish, city officials said.