New York, reeling from a flood of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers that Mayor Eric Adams says has cost the city $1.2 billion this year, is set to receive $104 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help deal with the crisis.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement Wednesday that they secured the funding through FEMA's newly created Shelter Services Program.
"When we negotiated these funds into the budget for the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program and the new Shelter Services Program, it was with New York City's needs front and center — and the share of funding of this tranche reflects that intent," the lawmakers wrote.
Schumer and Jeffries said the aid to New York is the largest share of federal funds released through the new program. GOP governors from southern border states have transported thousands of migrants to New York, which is a sanctuary city for immigrants. However, the flood of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers has strained city resources. New York had applied to FEMA for $350 million in assistance and received nearly $40 million in May, which Adams criticized as insufficient.
"New York City continues to be disproportionally challenged by an influx of asylum seekers and it will take an all-hands-on-deck, every-level-of-government approach to solve, including getting more funds and establishing quicker administrative pathways to work authorization and broadening the eligibility for Temporary Protective Status, particularly for Venezuela, which we are strongly urging the Biden administration to implement," Schumer and Jeffries wrote.
New York Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom thanked the lawmakers for the funding during a press briefing on Wednesday.
"We have already spent over $1.2 billion and expect to spend over $4.3 billion through next June, but it's clear that without the efforts of congressional leadership, New York City would not be able to receive this additional federal funding, so we want to thank you so much for your advocacy and for your efforts," Williams-Isom said. "… We're going to continue to need support. And for me, the most important thing ... in addition to the funds is people being able to have their work authorization, so that they can be on the pathway to their new lives."
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