Gov. Kathy Hochul fires back at unsolicited advice from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on how to handle asylum seeker crisis
NEW YORK -- A war of words erupted Wednesday as Gov. Kathy Hochul got some unsolicited advice on dealing with the asylum seeker crisis from a fellow governor.
But she made it clear she's not about to listen to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Hochul may be from Buffalo, but she offered a loud Bronx cheer, a shoot from the hip and the lip putdown of the man from Texas whose response to the asylum seeker crisis was to charter buses and ship people to New York.
"Let me be clear: I will not be taking advice from Greg Abbott," Hochul said.
New York's governor doesn't own a gun, but if she did that six-shooter would have been smoking, after Abbott came to town and offered unsolicited advice to her and Mayor Eric Adams about dealing with the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have arrived here, many of the buses chartered and paid for by, yes, the aforementioned Abbott.
Texas' governor placed the blame squarely on President Joe Biden, saying New York Democrats ought to demand immigration reform from the commander-in-chief.
"The challenge that the city of New York and the state of New York are dealing with, it's caused by one person, Joe Biden," Abbott said. "Joe Biden can flip that switch any day and stop New York from having to deal with the consequences of an open border. They must prevail upon their president for more than just money. They need a chance in policy."
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A spokesperson for Mayor Adams also slammed Abbott, who admitted to busing 15,800 asylum seekers to New York City.
"New Yorkers deserve better than being trapped between a vicious game of political hot potato," the spokesperson said, adding that if Gov. Abbott genuinely wanted to be part of the solution he "would urge his Republican colleagues in Congress to collaborate with President Biden on desperately needed and long overdue immigration reform, instead of using this issue to gain cheap political points."
But Gov. Hochul wasn't done firing her bazooka at Abbott, who, she said, would be better off using his political capital on Capitol Hill to help stave off the impending government shut down driven by Republicans.
"Who have no interest in insuring we have meaningful immigration reform. They don't care about the fact that the migrants we have will be affected by a government shutdown. Nor do they care about the fact that Speaker McCarthy, the leader of Greg Abbott's party, is willing to have the budget go forth that literally cuts 800 positions from border security. So, they're so hypocritical to come here and tell New York how to deal with the crisis," Hochul said.
Hochul acidly pointed out that if the 25 congressmen from Texas and the nine Republican congressmen from New York pulled together, they could come up with a solution.