White House ‘has failed’ New York City over migrant crisis, mayor says

“The president and the White House have failed this city,” he said, adding that a less-than-punctual state budget is only adding to the stresses.

He indicated he wants the federal government to grant Temporary Protected Status to asylum seekers so they can receive work permits because the city is currently experiencing a “black market” of workers without them.

“A substantial number of them, I believe, are being exploited, are being mistreated,” he said.

In a statement, the White House said it hopes to work with the city on its needs: “FEMA is also providing assistance to support the city as it receives migrants and will announce additional funding for receiving cities like New York City in the coming weeks, but we need Congress to provide the funds and resources we’ve requested to fix our long-broken immigration system.”

The White House also called on Congress to “reform and modernize” immigration laws so asylum seekers can get work permits, saying it has tried various administrative measures to help them.

At City Hall, it was quite the political split screen: A couple hundred feet away members of the Progressive Caucus chastised the mayor’s proposed budget cuts (which he has insisted be referred to as “efficiencies”). In the most recent round a few weeks ago, his administration asked most city agencies to cut their staffs for the upcoming fiscal year by 4 percent.

The caucus, which butts heads with the mayor routinely — even more so than the typically critical City Council — is calling for $4 billion in affordable housing funding and $350 million toward “right to counsel” services for those who cannot afford an attorney. They demanded more dollars to be earmarked to shore up mental health and education services, too.

“He is defunding everything we need to keep us safe,” said Council Member Alexa Avilés, who has defined his administration’s priorities largely through a public safety lens. The caucus lost more than a dozen of its members earlier this year amid an internal brawl over whether to defund the NYPD.

The City Council released its official response to the mayor’s budget a few weeks ago, claiming the city would make billions more this fiscal year and the next than it had originally projected.

Adams called those projections “false reporting” and said the inability of local officials to get on the same page has contributed to the federal government’s feet-dragging.

“Running your mouth is not running a city,” Adams said of his critics.

The mayor, who is in negotiations with the Council, must release his next budget proposal by April 26 — though uncertainty in Albany could muddy that timeline, too. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who also echoed Adams’ calls to expand temporary protected status, said a commitment in the state budget to pay a third of the costs promised by Gov. Kathy Hochul “has yet to materialize.”

Asked Wednesday about the state helping the city with the cost of the asylum seekers, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said it would be a priority in ongoing budget talks.

“I know that members of my conference are very, very interested in making sure that we are helpful in this process,” she told reporters. “It’s not something that we’re spending a lot of time talking about, but there is a consensus that we do have to be helpful.”