Eric Adams Knows Biden Won’t Help Pay New York’s $4 Billion Migrant Bill: Official

Mayor Eric Adams has given up hope that President Biden will provide any material amount to pay for the $4.2 billion migrant crisis in the Big Apple this fiscal year, Hizzoner’s budget director said Monday.

But instead of blaming Biden for his failure to help New York deal with the president’s southern border crisis, city budget director Jacques Jiha decided to lay the blame on Congressional Republicans.

Telling the City Council Finance Committee that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s three-way cost-sharing proposal proved untenable, Jiha said Adams now wants the state to go 50-50 with the Big Apple.

“We know we won’t get a third from the federal government because of the Republican-led House of Representatives,” Jiha said.

“So, at least you know, if the governor would share — share the cost with us, it would make more sense than just paying us the 29% of the cost we’re expecting.”

Jihi said Hochul proposed that the state assume 29% of the city’s migrant-related spending, up to a maximum of $1 billion over two years.

The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island, Brooklyn) fired back at Jihyo for trying to pin the blame on the Republican Party.

“Instead of asking hardworking taxpayers for more money to pay for an unsustainable crisis, the mayor and governor should tell President Biden to reverse his executive orders that brought us here,” she said.

Another Republican in Congress, U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, said, “For the mayor of New York, who was a sanctuary city, blaming the Republicans is laughable and in denial of reality.”

“The policies pursued by the Biden administration have exacerbated the migration crisis in our country,” Lawler (Rockland County) said. “Their failure to secure our border and bipartisan work on immigration reform has left municipalities across the country struggling to cope with the influx and the associated costs.”

Jiha said officials have not estimated the total cost of providing housing and other services to urban migrants after the middle of next year as they look to a quick end to the state of emergency declared by Adams in October.

Meanwhile, Democratic Councilman Keith Powers (Upper East Side State) said he is concerned that city budget officials are not being held accountable for how the migration crisis will affect the budget in the coming years.

“We rely entirely on the state and federal governments to fill in the gaps. We will eventually eat up the cost of this in future budgets,” he told The Post.

The Office of Management and Budget typically projects spending five years ahead.

“We’re hoping – and we’ve been working with the federal government so we can, you know – these people can get the documents and get them out of the system,” Jiha said.

The city expects to spend $2.8 billion on migrant housing and other services through June 30, the end of fiscal year 2023, and another $1.4 billion during fiscal year 2024, for a total of $4.2 billion, Jiha said.

In December, Adams requested $1 billion from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to fight the influx of migrants, but only about $8 million has been authorized so far.

Adams’ request came shortly before Schumer, NY, claimed responsibility for adding $800 million in migrant-related aid—for the entire country—to a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that 80- Biden signed while on holiday in Santa Cruz on Dec. 1. 29.

Jiha on Monday called Schumer’s funding and Hohul’s proposal “grossly insufficient and inadequate to meet the needs.”

In response to a question from City Councilwoman Gail Brewer (D-Manhattan), Jiha also said that FEMA has not “set up its own operation” to process reimbursement requests from the city.

“That’s what they keep telling us,” he said. “They have not provided any instructions to proceed – nothing – and most likely, I suspect that we are unlikely to receive any resources this fiscal year.”

In late January, Adams pressed Biden for an opportunity to discuss the migrant crisis when the president visited the city to advertise $292 million in federal spending on a new rail tunnel across the Hudson River.

The two Democrats have spoken several times since then, the mayor’s office said, but it’s not clear what came of it, and Adams has largely avoided direct criticism of the president over the migrant crisis.

As of Sunday, the city has received more than 49,900 migrants since the spring, with more than 30,900 housed in 99 temporary shelters, according to the latest official count.