Gov. Kathy Hochul is escalating pressure on the federal government to help with New York’s growing influx of asylum-seekers, laying out new demands in a speech Thursday that marked her first major address on the migrant crisis.
Hochul’s requests, spelled out in a letter sent Thursday to President Joe Biden, center on speeding up work authorization for new migrants to reduce their six-month wait to be employed legally, and giving the state and city “significant financial assistance” to cover growing costs of shelter, health care and other needs.
“Today, our quest continues to squarely tell the White House: let them work,” Hochul said. More than 104,000 asylum-seekers have now entered the city since last spring, of which 59,000 remain in the city’s care, officials said this week.