Governor Kathy Hochul Calls for Federal Assistance in Migrant Crisis

Governor Kathy Hochul has called on the federal government to assist with the migrant crisis New York City is currently facing. “We really are looking for a federal response to this, to take ownership of a crisis,” Hochul said. “This belongs in the federal government and that is where the mayor and I are 100 percent in sync to make sure we have the resources, to make sure this doesn’t devolve into a real humanitarian crisis,” Hochul said.

Hochul’s request is similar to that of Mayor Eric Adams, who has also called for help from the state and federal governments. According to CBS News, over 18,000 migrants have made their way into New York City over the last few months. The high number of migrants coming into New York City has led to 62,000 people occupying the city’s shelter system. The aforementioned figure is a record and an indication that the city is overwhelmed by the high number of people.

A large number of the people in the shelters need assistance with shelter, food, healthcare, and education. All this requires a financial contribution that the city had not planned for.

While Hochul called for assistance from the federal government, the Biden Administration has put in place measures to lessen the easy entrance of Venezuelan asylum seekers into the United States. The program introduced by the administration will require Venezuelans seeking asylum to apply for it, have a sponsor in the country, go through a screening process, and complete vaccinations. The Department of Homeland Security announced that only 24, 000 Venezuelan migrants would be accepted into the country, and if any were to be found in the country illegally, they would be deported to Mexico.

A large number of the migrants entering the United States and ending up in New York City are from South America, with a lot of them being Venezuelan. These new measures may reduce the number of asylum seekers entering the country.