Gov. Kathy Hochul says Joe Biden won’t ‘take ownership’ of NYC migrant crisis

Gov. Kathy Hochul says repeated pleas to President Biden about the worsening “humanitarian crisis” caused by a flood of migrants into New York City have fallen on deaf ears — but she continued to sidestep the issue of whether his open-border immigration policies are also to blame.

“We really are looking for a federal response to this – to take ownership of a crisis and we’ll be there to help but this belongs to the federal government,” Hochul, a self-described “Biden Democrat,” exasperatedly told reporters in Manhattan.

The arrival of 18,600 asylum seekers, who can remain in the US legally while their cases are adjudicated, in New York City the past few weeks has led to “overwhelmed” schools across the five boroughs where Mayor Eric Adams has declared an emergency over the issue and says “every community” should expect migrants after city homeless shelters hit record numbers.

“We want the federal government to see that this is a humanitarian crisis,” Hochul said.

A White House spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The implicit rebuke by Hochul of a member of her own party comes as Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Suffolk) continues attacking her ahead of the Nov. 8 election over issues including her support for immigrant-friendly policies like the Big Apple’s sanctuary city status that protects illegal immigrants.

“There are sanctuary state policies that New York has that should be ended. We saw it with the creation of a multi-billion dollar Excluded Workers Fund that was created. They raise taxes in order to pay for it,” Zeldin said at a press conference in White Plains Wednesday.

Robert Miller

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“There’s a Green Light Law that is in place that prevents federal law enforcement from being able to get access to DMV records. There was just an expansion of all Medicaid, where they’re now providing additional tax dollars to people who aren’t legally here,” he added.

Many of the newly-arrived migrants came via buses sent by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas but also from the Biden administration and charity groups as well as thousands more sent with Mayor Adams’ blessing originally by the Democratic El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser.

While the federal government has reimbursed the city a few million dollars to cover emergency shelter for some migrants – many of whom are escaping social strife and economic ruin in countries like Venezuela – Adams says the city needs roughly $1 billion more considering budget forecasts projecting multi-billion dollar deficits in future years.

Adams declared a state of emergency last week to loosen rules on city shelters to accommodate efforts to house migrants in tent camps.

“This is unsustainable,” Adams said on Oct. 7.

“New York City is doing all we can but we are reaching the outer limit of our ability to help,” he added.

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Robert Miller

Hochul said Wednesday she is working “hand-in-hand” with Hizzonner to get Biden to deploy more federal resources against the crisis while pushing Congress to better manage the inflow of immigrants in the U.S. moving forward.

But the joint pleas from the state Capitol and Gracie Mansion continue to fall on deaf ears at the White House.

“Speaking to the Chief of Staff [Ron Klain], speaking to the president, speaking to the chief of staff again, speaking to the president again – with Eric Adams – without Eric Adams,” Hochul said Wednesday.