Mayor Adams leads rally calling on Biden administration to help New York City with influx of asylum seekers
NEW YORK -- Mayor Eric Adams led a rally on Thursday in Lower Manhattan, calling on the federal government to help with the influx of asylum seekers.
A crowd gathered in Foley Square to demand action from the White House to accelerate a path to employment.
"Let them work! Give them the opportunity to contribute to our society," Adams said.
The mayor also wants the asylum seekers to be granted extended temporary protection status.
"We're saying we must expedite work visas. It's just common sense. Thousands of jobs are available to be filled," said Adams. "Our resources are not endless ... The solution is not just New York City. The solution is New York state and the United States."
Magdi Kabor is spending his third month in the U.S. The 23-year-old traveled here alone, an asylum seeker from Sudan.
"So we came here to work, to get the work permit," Kabor said.
"I came here to have things better because I'm having severe difficulties from where I'm from, but now I'm here and having extreme difficulties as well," Elhadj Ndiaga, an asylum seeker from Senegal, said through a translator.
At a gathering of Republican state senators in Nassau County, Sen. Jack Martins said New York City's mayor should, "Ask President Biden to seal the border. We refuse to mop up their mess."
Gov. Kathy Hochul met with senior members of the Biden administration at the White House on Wednesday. She called the two-hour meeting "productive," but "not enough to fully address this crisis."
Hochul said they discussed support for health, education and housing, but her main focus was getting work authorization for the asylum seekers.
The White House said it is sending staffers to the city and pushing out notifications to help identify thousands of people who are eligible for work authorization but have not applied.
Aside from work authorization, Adams said his mission is to keep up with providing shelter for the thousands of asylum seekers arriving every few days.
Adams wants to house them outside the five boroughs, which is where he and Hochul seem to clash.
"We don't have an option. New York City has run out of room," Adams said this week. "We are going to use any space that's available to take the pressure off New York City residents."
"We cannot and will not force other parts of our state to shelter migrants," Hochul said recently.
The Biden administration offered New York 11 sites to build shelters for asylum seekers. Most are located outside the five boroughs.