N.Y. leaders seek expedited work authorization for asylum seekers

BROOKLYN | With speculation rolling across rural North Country communities, a strategic focus in New York City is working to outline goals to safely and compassionately house migrants being bused from the southern border to large cities in the northern U.S.A. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said some of the commentary does not reflect the massive effort underway in New York City as employers, social services personnel and refugee assistance groups step up to help out. In a news conference with Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday, May 22, Adams said 5,800 people came to the city last week. "Those are factual numbers, they're not made up numbers. And we are seeing the week before, 4,200. Just in one location alone we had over 800, not only by buses, through the airports, through cars, through every mode of transportation, and our administration has accurately reported the information to the best of our ability to partner with the governor's office to monitor and to address this crisis." Unfilled jobs may become part of the solution. CAN WE WORK? Adams said he hears over and over again that asylum seekers want to work. "And they continue to ask the question, the question they ask in El Paso, the question they're asking in Brownsville, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington, and New York City, they're asking, 'Can we work? Can we work?' That is the precursor to sleep that allows you to experience the American dream," Adams said. "What we see happening on our border is not new, it's a logical and human response to hunger, violence and political instability in other countries. In an ideal situation, all Americans will do their part. And I want to thank New Yorkers who have stepped up, volunteered, participated, and have done their part on so many levels," the mayor said. Gov. Hochul has asked her cabinet leaders for an inventory of vacant buildings, rooms and even federal agencies for National Park properties that could be used to temporarily house asylum seekers, at least long enough to give them a chance to have their cases heard by judges. At the press conference, she said immigration judges from New York have been sent to the U.S.-Mexican border region to help there. As the influx slows at the southern border, bringing judges home and allowing them to conduct interviews remotely might help make the process more efficient, Hochul said. Under current rules, immigrants have to wait 180 days after they file for asylum to obtain work authorization. Hochul and Adams want that timeline to change. Both have asked U.S. President Joe Biden to issue an executive order, allowing faster turn-around for work permits. Washington has not said no. "There's some argument that it has to happen with an action of Congress and a lot of this is driven by the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which has employer sanctions and has a process for asylum seekers and legal work status," Hochul explained to a reporter. "We're simply saying, I understand that is what is written on the books, but we need your help to adapt to a circumstance which has reached a crisis situation." Meantime, over 5,000 farm jobs are open in New York right now. "We have more than 5,000 food service jobs right now," Hochul said, and "4,000 openings for janitors, cleaners, and housekeepers." Hochul and Adams stood with leaders from the hotel, restaurant and refugee support community at the press conference. They have continued to communicate with leaders in D.C., seeking a way to turn this crisis into an opportunity for employers in New York and for people seeking asylum. "This could be a game changer for other communities that are resistant right now. When they have a steady work supply coming with them, it all changes," Hochul said. EMPTY BUILDINGS State commissioners are conducting an inventory of vacant sites all across New York State, not just in State or City University (SUNY/CUNY) of New York facilities. The goal is to develop an entire response plan, Hochul said. It is not, as some reports have suggested, just about finding temporary housing. It's about finding a solution. "There are some schools that have empty dorms. There are some schools that are not reopening. There are former correctional facilities, which are not ideal, but that is space if we can change the environment. "My team has been embedded with the mayor's team. We have an emergency operations team stood up. ... So I'm pushing everybody saying, 'If the alternative is sleeping on the streets of New York, we can find space for these people.'" Adams said he has spoken with Timothy Cardinal Dolan and is working with Catholic Charities to find empty parochial school dormitories. "My chief of staff has been doing an analysis of all of the properties that we have available in the city," Adams said. "We really at this point cannot leave anything on the table, but we need to be clear on this also. This is not sustainable. The response can't be, 'Let's find another room somewhere.' "And having the right to work would allow us to take some pressure off of the situation, so we can move people out of care of the state and city and move them into the stability that they're looking for. You stabilize the situation and then you improve on it. We can't stay in emergency mode. That is not how you manage a crisis," Adams said. Hochul said they are talking logistics "and also trying to give an early warning to communities where individuals are coming next and try to take down the temperature." There are state university dorms open through August. But Hochul said they are looking toward a long-range solution. "What happens in August? That's the strategy that we're trying to develop now. If there's work authorization in place by then, it's a good dynamic. If not, what's going to happen? We are looking and the mayor is correct, we can find a lot of temporary spaces. There'll be tents going up in parking lots of state facilities and state-directed facilities. That's not ideal. Nobody wants little kids and adults in a tent, but they can't live on a street either. This is where we're at." OPPORTUNITY Hochul addressed concerns raised in some locales about migrants taking jobs away from local people. "I welcome them, anybody who feels that way, to come to Union Square today, go up to a farm, I'll drive you there personally if you're looking for a job because there are so many jobs unfilled right now. I want to take that narrative and push it right back at everybody because that is false," the governor said. Hochul drew from her immigrant heritage in making the case for a welcome state that works together. "Even though Grandpa saw 'Irish need not apply.' Eventually those signs came down and people were welcoming," she said. "Their children -- eight children packed into a tiny house -- became business leaders, school superintendents, educators, and a granddaughter even became a governor," Hochul said. "That's what happens in one generation, one generation. People's lives are transformed, they are changed. That is the story of New York. And let us have the power to give that same right, that same opportunity to people to say, 'Yes, you are part of our family. We welcome you. And you're going to help us get through a crisis, the shortage of workers.'"

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N.Y. leaders seek expedited work authorization for asylum seekers

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