Entering America illegally should be no barrier to getting a job, according to President Joe Biden, who said last week he will help get illegal immigrants, who have flocked to New York City, become better able to find jobs.
After a meeting with Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, the White House issued a statement saying that September would be “a month of action to help close the gap between noncitizens who are eligible for work authorization and those who have applied, to meet labor needs in New York.”
The Biden administration “committed to launching a first-of-its-kind national campaign — for individuals who are work-eligible but have not yet applied for work authorization — with information on how to apply for employment authorization,” the statement said.
Illegal immigrants must wait 150 days to seek a work permit and then another 30 days to receive one, a Biden administration official said, according to the Daily Caller.
The White House plans to ship an additional $100 million in aid to New York in the coming weeks.
Robert Law, who served as a senior official at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Trump administration, opposed the push to get illegal immigrants to work, according to the Washington Times.
“Sanctuary jurisdictions would rather get illegal immigrants into the workforce than help Americans back into it. Shameful,” he said.
Last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he will send some of the 100,000 illegal immigrants who have come to the city to federal sites in upstate New York, according to WPIX-TV. He did not name specific locations.
“If I get permission from the federal government, we’re going to use that. We are going to use any space that we get permission to use,” he said, adding that he will not worry about approval from local or state officials.
A letter from the Department of Homeland Security to Adams suggested housing 800 people at a hanger at JFK International Airport, according to WPIX.
To date, 27 counties outside of New York City have implemented local rules banning hotels, motels, and other similar businesses from entering into contracts to house illegal immigrants, according to Spectrum Local News.
“We need to stop the buses rolling outside of New York City,” said Stephen Acquario, executive director of the state Association of Counties.
“Upstate New York does not have capacity,” Acquario said. “There is no space in our hotels in all of these counties around the state of New York. They’re presently being used by their own social services recipients.”
“Who are the folks coming? Their names, their health care records, have they been vaccinated for tuberculosis, varicella or chickenpox? What are their employment skills?” Acquario asked. “This is where the system has collapsed, [and] is a total disconnect between the federal government, the state government, the city of New York and the 57 counties. It’s a system in chaos right now.”
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz had once been an advocate of housing illegal immigrants.
But last month, Poloncarz said the county’s “trust and good faith has been betrayed” after two instances in which illegal immigrants were accused of sexual assaults, according to the New York Post.
“I demanded [New York] Mayor [Eric] Adams pause all further transportation of asylum-seekers to our community until such time as we can resolve all security issues,” Poloncarz said then.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
