Tensions are rising between President Biden and blue state Democrats trying to stem the tide of migrants flowing from Republican border states.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has criticized the Biden administration in no uncertain terms, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has leaned on the president to do more for months. Other deep blue cities like Chicago and Boston are also buckling under the weight of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s bussing program.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said he reached out to Biden and urged him to do more to respond to the crisis.
“I wrote to him in May, so it’s been like four months. But I hope to find out,” Durbin told Axios on Tuesday.
Business leaders in NYC also wrote an open letter to Biden and Congress urging them to provide more federal funding for migrant care.
“We write to support the request made by New York Governor Hochul for federal funding for educational, housing, security, and health care services to offset the costs that local and state governments are incurring with limited federal aid,” the group wrote.
GOP REPS CALL FOR MORE OVERTIME PAY FOR BORDER PATROL AGENTS TACKLING ONGOING MIGRANT CRISIS
The signees included top executives from JPMorgan, BlackRock, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and dozens of other major companies.
NEW YORK GOV. KATHY HOCHUL SLAMS MAYOR ADAMS’ MIGRANT RESPONSE IN 12-PAGE LETTER
The central request from blue state Democrats is for Biden to expedite work permits for the migrants to allow them to support themselves, rather than take up city and state resources living in shelters.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey joined Hochul and other blue state Democrats when she declared a state of emergency on immigration in August.
The administration has responded with an effort to smoothen the permitting process for some migrants, but the program is not expansive enough to have a major impact on cities like New York City and Chicago.
Migrants who enter the U.S. illegally are typically not allowed to work. However, if they make an application for asylum, then they eventually become eligible to work after a number of months. Migrants who are paroled into the U.S. — such as via the CBP One app at a port of entry — may also apply for a work permit for the duration of their parole.
The DHS program falls short of what Adams and Hochul have requested, which is a federal emergency declaration that would unlock increased funding in addition to more widespread permitting.
“We need people to have the right to work, which is an American tradition. We need an emergency declaration,” Adams said at a recent news conference. “We need locations to deal with the overflow right now, and we need funding. And so when you look at an analysis that was given, it answered none of those prevention…this is the intervention, what you saw. How do we stop this flow?”
Fox News’ Adam Show contributed to this report.
