FOR EMERGENCY DECLARATION TO STEM NYC MIGRANT CRISIS
Emergency Declaration Would Allow FEMA Funding to Flow to NYC
NEW YORK CITY – New York State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt and New York City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli today called on Governor Kathy Hochul to petition President Joe Biden for an emergency declaration to help New York City’s efforts to combat the growing migrant crisis.
“This is nothing short of a humanitarian crisis. New York City is at its breaking point and can’t afford more financial burden as it desperately tries to recover from the pandemic. Hard-working, law-abiding New Yorkers are fed up with the disastrous results of dysfunctional government and partisan leadership. Elected leaders need to drop the politics and declare this crisis for what it is: a federal emergency,” said Senate Minority Leader Ortt.
“With thousands of migrants flooding our city every week and pushing our shelter system to its breaking point, it is way past time for Governor Hochul to activate the New York State Emergency Plan and formally request President Biden to declare that New York City is in a state of emergency,” said Council Minority Leader Borelli.
“We don’t have the infrastructure to support the needs of asylum seekers. We need President Biden to provide federal dollars to make sure that the families that are coming in are not separated into different rooms and hotels. How can we sustain thousands and thousands of asylum seekers coming into our city every day without the federal government’s aid?” said Council Member Joann Ariola.
Recently, Governor Hochul announced she has been having conversations with the President, yet has failed to take any official action to remedy the situation. An emergency declaration by the President, which is usually prompted by a request from a Governor, would unlock Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds and resources to help the City deal with this growing crisis. The Governor of Illinois and the Mayor of the District of Columbia recently declared state of emergencies to seek federal aid for their respective jurisdictions, which have experienced a similar influx of asylum seekers.
Without federal aid, New York taxpayers are currently bearing the immense financial burden of this growing crisis, which was precipitated by the failure of the federal government to secure our national borders and adequately plan for this unprecedented influx of migrants.
“Governor Hochul must act right now and ask the President to declare a State of Emergency in New York City so we can get the federal funding and assistance that is desperately needed,” concluded Leader Ortt.
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