New York City Council is pressuring the Biden administration to fast track work permits for the 45,000 and counting migrants housed in taxpayer-funded facilities across the five boroughs amidst ongoing city budget negotiations, arguing the lack of approval leaves a “heavy strain” on city coffers.
“We write to request that you act immediately to grant work authorization to New York City’s asylum seeker population through Humanitarian Parole and Temporary Protected Status, and that you increase the number of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) staff to expedite application processing,” reads the letter sent Monday to President Joe Biden led by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D-Queens), City Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) and 65 additional city and state representatives.
“No work means no money. No money means no way to afford an apartment or groceries. No apartment or groceries means full dependence on city social services and non-profit organizations,” wrote the pols.
“Full dependence means an open-ended and heavy strain on the city budget and the asylum seekers’ dignity and mobility.”
The move also preceded a Tuesday trip led by Adams, Council Finance Chairman Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn) and Council Majority Leader Keith Powers (D-Manhattan) to Washington DC with plans to meet members of the Big Apple’s congressional delegation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and White House officials to discuss the impacts of the migrant crisis.
The council needs to strike a deal with Mayor Eric Adams on the city budget proposal by June 30 but Big Apple fiscal hawks are already predicting additional cuts may be on the horizon — especially as the migrant-related spending is set to likely exceed its $4.3 billion, two-year price tag.
Over 74,000 migrants have arrived in the city since last spring and roughly 47,200 migrants are currently living in 162 emergency hotels and other locations, according to the latest figures provided by City Hall.
“The Department of Homeland Security has the discretion to grant Humanitarian Parole and Temporary Protected Status without Congressional action. The regulations are broad: parole can be granted for “urgent humanitarian reasons” or “significant public benefit.” Both scenarios are applicable to the situation in New York City,” wrote the lawmakers.
Individuals must first apply for asylum before they receive working papers – a process that typically takes around six months before they’re deemed eligible recipients, as outlined by federal law.
But backlogs in processing applications at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has extended that wait period.
A representative for the USCIS did not respond to an immediate request for comment from The Post as to how many individuals have applied for working permits and received them within the five boroughs.
Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom, whose portfolio includes overseeing the city’s migrant operations, recently revealed that “very few” individuals have applied for asylum, blaming a complicated and expensive legal process.
She did not provide a specific figure as to how many individuals were granted permits.
Last month Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams publicly requested that the Biden administration waive the waiting period for work permits and grant migrants temporary protected status.
The White House responded at the time that instead, Congress needs to enact legislation as “only they can reform and modernize our decades-old immigration laws.”
A Biden rep did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
