Mayor Adams hinted Monday that he believes electoral politics is to blame for the fact that President Biden and Gov. Hochul have dragged their feet on reimbursing his administration for costs associated with the city’s migrant crisis.
According to an estimate from the Independent Budget Office, it could cost the city nearly $600 million per year to provide housing, health care and other services for the thousands of Latin American asylum seekers who have arrived in the city since this spring, and Adams has for months pleaded with the feds and Hochul to help pick up the tab.
Speaking to reporters at City Hall on Monday afternoon, Adams said he’s “still fighting for reimbursement” and that there’s no longer an excuse for his fellow Democrats in Albany and Washington to hold off on helping out now that the Nov. 8 elections are in the rearview.
“The campaign season is over, you know. It’s time to keep the focus on this issue. We need to be reimbursed,” he said. “We spent a great deal of money for a national problem, and we’re looking for reimbursement and assistance from the state and from the federal government.”
Asked to elaborate on his “campaign season” comment, Adams said he was referencing the fact that Hochul and Biden have been too busy attending political rallies to delve into the reimbursement issue.
“People seem to be more focused on issues when they don’t have to run around from location to location to location. Not ‘campaign season is over’ because no one wanted to talk about it, because I was talking about it,” he said.
Some strategists say there could’ve been a more overtly political component as to why Biden and Hochul didn’t help cover the city’s migrant crisis costs before the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
BREAKING: CBP reports there were 230,678 migrant encounters at the border in October, the first month of fiscal year 2023. It is an enormous increase over recent Octobers.
OCT FY'23 : 230,678
OCT FY'22 : 164,837
OCT FY'21 : 71,929
OCT FY'20: 45,139
OCT FY'19: 60,781 @FoxNews— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) November 15, 2022
Republicans across the U.S. have used the flow of asylum seekers arriving at the southern border as a political cudgel against Biden over the course of the campaign season, contending that the crisis shows the president’s immigration policies are weak and ineffective.
For Biden or Hochul to funnel emergency reimbursement funding to the city against that political backdrop could’ve been further weaponized by Republican candidates for elected offices in New York and beyond, said Ken Frydman, a veteran GOP strategist.
“Had Biden and Hochul reimbursed NYC for its migrant crisis costs, Republican candidates would’ve used that as an immigration reform issue in their campaigns against Democrats,” said Frydman. ”Rule number one of politics: Never help your opponent.”
One especially pricey component of the Adams administration’s migrant crisis response was the tent facility for asylum seekers erected on Randalls Island.
The site cost at least $650,000 just to build — and Adams announced last week that the city is dismantling it even though it has stood mostly empty since opening less than a month ago due to a recent slowdown in migrants arriving in the city.
Asked Monday if he regrets building the tent given that it was barely used, Adams demurred and argued it highlights the “success” of his administration’s migrant crisis response.
“I’m baffled by those who don’t realize the successful execution of a plan,” he said. “The worst thing that could’ve happened was that we waited.”
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According to an estimate from the Independent Budget Office, it could cost the city nearly $600 million per year to provide housing, health care and other services for the thousands of Latin American asylum seekers who have arrived in the city since this spring,
That is $600,000,000 just in New York City that the Biden administration is forcing tax payers to support their multimillion imported illegal immigrants. 🙁 🙁 🙁
And FOOLS still vote to support this Treasonous, dishonest, destructive, immoral, Socialist Democrat Party and their puppet president.
HENCE why i have absolutely NO SYMPATHY for the idiots in NYC.
Voters just can’t be this stupid. They drank the Socialist/Marxist Kool-Aid or something fraudulent is STILL going on in our Election system
why dont you go pound sand mr.mayor!
To0 bad! When are the border states whhich have against the onslaught for nearly two years going to be reimbursed for the pain, suffering, crime, destruction and overwhelming debt forced on them by an irrational and destructive decision?
ITS Been going on, in those border cities/states, for a LOT LONGER than 2 years.. TRY 5 decades!
NYC has a nice big empty tent to welcome their immigrant friends to their sanctuary city. I hope DeSantis and Abbott fill it up for them.
HOWS ABOUT fill it up with all the bloody homeless!
Eric,
You can have exactly the same amount of federal help that Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico have received from the fed = zero, zip, bupkis.
Enjoy what your team wants for this country.
You can blame your party’s ineptitude on the election all day long but, the elections over, and your party is still as ignorant as the day is long.
In the first place, why do NYC leaders believe illegal aliens are “owed” food, shelter, medical services, or anything else? Why do Democrats think they can use working American citizens’ tax dollars to support people stealing into this nation when retired seniors in the country are struggling between paying for medicine or paying for food because a deficiency in Social Security payments prevents them from buying both medicine and food?
Secondly, NYC elected officials declared NYC a ‘Sanctuary’ city and now these same officials cry because illegal aliens came there seeking sanctuary from law enforcement! NYC official publicly invite illegal intruders into this nation to come there and be secure and safe, then turn around and call “FOUL” when illegal aliens show up to accept their offer!
Thirdly, NYC Officials have no right to use taxpayers’ dollars to comfort and aide people coming here, uninvited, and demanding we feed and shelter them. These illegal aliens drain financial resources that unemployed United States citizens need to receive the same food, shelter, and medical services given to illegal aliens!
AND when we have a good mil + homeless of OUR OWN CITIZENS who are MORE deserving of our help.