NYC CIty Council Caucus Urges Biden to Declare Emergency Over Migrant Crisis

A group of bipartisan New York City Council members is asking President Joe Biden to declare a federal emergency, saying that doing so would free up funding for the city’s boroughs to handle the migrant crisis, according to the New York Post.

Six Republicans and two Democrats in the Council’s “Common Sense Caucus” made their request in a letter sent to Biden and other Washington officials. They said an emergency declaration could help New York City Mayor Eric Adams obtain $1 billion in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

“These services, which have already cost our taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, are only growing as more buses of migrants arrive each day. We are asking the President to declare the asylum seeker crisis an emergency so that FEMA may reimburse New York City for the entire costs of addressing it,” the letter says, referring to the illegal immigrant wave as an asylum seeker crisis.

Adams, a Democrat, suggested the $1 billion cost for providing shelter and other services to migrants in early October when he declared a state of emergency over the illegal immigration crisis. He said at the time that some 17,000 migrants had been bused to his city from the southern U.S. border since April.

That number of migrants has since increased to more than 31,000, Adams said on Dec. 18.

According to the New York Post, New York City Hall submitted a $1 billion request to FEMA in November and the request for funding is currently pending.

The Council members’ letter also wanted the federal government to extend the COVID-19 pandemic-era Title 42 border policy. According to the outlet, their request was addressed to Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

The aforementioned officials need to “come up with a bipartisan fix that closes the border and fixes the immigration processing issue,” according to the letter.

“This crisis is too large and too important to be ignored,” the letter says. “We implore you to take immediate action to protect the rights and well-being of the asylum seekers and the safety of the citizens of New York City.”

Title 42

Currently, the fate of Title 42 is up in the air.

Title 42 was invoked in March 2020 as an order issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19, as illegal aliens could be quickly turned away at the southern border, rather than processed at immigration detention facilities under Title 8 immigration law.

The policy was scheduled to expire on Dec. 21, but the Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 19 to halt the expiration, after 19 Republican-led states filed an emergency application for a stay.

On Dec. 20, the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to rule against the states that initiated the court action, saying that there was no “public-health justification” for keeping Title 42. However, it requested that the border policy remain in place until at least Dec. 27.

“The government recognizes that the end of the Title 42 orders will likely lead to disruption and a temporary increase in unlawful border crossings,” wrote the Justice Department’s solicitor general, Elizabeth Prelogar, in a court filing (pdf) in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“The government in no way seeks to minimize the seriousness of that problem,” Prelogar added. “But the solution to that immigration problem cannot be to extend indefinitely a public-health measure that all now acknowledge has outlived its public-health justification.”

New York City Council member David Carr, a Republican who is a member of the “Common Sense Caucus,” said the Biden administration was making a mistake with regard to Title 42.

“The Biden Administration totally failed in its obligations to secure our southern border, and now they are making matters worse by trying to abandon Title 42, which is the only policy they have had to even attempt to address the issue,” Carr wrote on his Facebook account on Dec. 21.

Carr added, “This is a mistake that will allow even more migrants into the country and cost NYC taxpayers even more money than the $1 billion we are already expected to pay.”

Anticipating Title 42 to be lifted soon, Adams warned on Dec. 18 that the city might reduce its public services in order to handle an expected influx of illegal aliens.

“Our shelter system is full, and we are nearly out of money, staff, and space. Truth be told, if corrective measures are not taken soon, we may very well be forced to cut or curtail programs New Yorkers rely on, and the pathway to house thousands more is uncertain, Adams said.

“These are not choices we want to make, but they may become necessary, and I refuse to be forced to choose new arrivals over current New Yorkers,” Adams added. “I’ll say it again—we need a plan, we need assistance, and we need it now.”

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Frank Fang is a Taiwan-based journalist. He covers US, China, and Taiwan news. He holds a master’s degree in materials science from Tsinghua University in Taiwan.

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