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Criticized over NYC’s delay in processing migrants, Mayor Adams delivers a mic drop
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Sep 15, 2023
Modified Sep 16, 2023
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Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Sep 15, 2023
Modified Sep 16, 2023
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Call it a defiant mic drop.
Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday pushed back when asked if the city could have installed a better process to help migrants qualify for federal work permits.
“So a crisis that is created nationally, we're looking at a local city to solve it. Is that what you're trying to say to me?” Adams said when a reporter asked whether the city had not properly processed and surveyed migrants.
“Now we're looking at the individuals who are trying to fix the crisis and saying, ‘You're not doing a good enough job,’” he continued.
At which point, Adams abruptly walked away from the podium, as his staffers cued up his self-selected theme song, “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys.
The mayor’s reaction reflected his frustration over a crisis that he has increasingly asserted is not solely the city’s responsibility to fix. More than 110,000 migrants have arrived in the city over the last year, according to administration officials, straining the shelter system and costing the city billions.
But as Adams pressures President Joe Biden to expedite the federal work authorization process for migrants — a politically fraught process — the mayor has opened himself up for criticism.
Early on, experts urged city officials to invest more time assisting migrants with the asylum application process. Migrants have only one year to apply for asylum with the federal government, after which they must wait six months before they can be considered for a work permit. And filling out the application is not easy. It consists of 12 pages, all in English.
Almost 60,000 migrants are staying in the city’s shelter system. To date, less than 20% of them have applied for asylum so far, according to City Hall. Less than 10% have applied for work permits.
At a briefing earlier this week, city officials said only a small minority of migrants decline the asylum process when asked. They said they did not know how many migrants had already missed their one year deadline to apply.
Both Biden and Gov. Kathy Hochul, who are also facing criticism over their response to the migrant crisis, have raised concerns that city officials have not been doing enough to help migrants navigate the asylum process.
A letter from the Biden administration earlier this month outlined multiple areas where the city’s management of the migrant influx could improve, including data collection and case management.
In a call with reporters on Tuesday, a senior Biden administration official claimed a “critical mass” of migrants admitted to the country under a special program are immediately eligible for work permits.
The next day, city officials announced an “expedited sprint” to identify those individuals and said they had already begun conducting “in-depth, in-person surveys” of adult migrants in the shelter system.
As of Tuesday, the city said it had completed 10,000 assessments.
Advocates on Thursday lashed back at the mayor’s response on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, arguing the city is especially well-positioned to provide migrants with legal help.
“This is so silly, @NYCMayor,” posted Daniel Altschuler, of Make the Road Action, an immigrant rights group. “NYC has pathbreaking immigration legal services programs to help people apply for what they need.”
“The Mayor just isn’t making sense,” posted Seth Pollack, who works at Housing Works, a charity that helps the homeless and those with AIDS/HIV. “NYC government routinely works to increase engagement with federal programs.”
At the same time, the mayor is facing growing anger in some communities over the mounting costs of the migrant crisis. He recently ordered city agencies to cut spending by as much as 15%, a reduction that the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group, estimated adds up to $10 billion in one year.
During a mayoral town hall in southeast Queens Wednesday night, some residents expressed resentment, saying that Adams was prioritizing the migrants over historically underserved communities.
“How can you take care of migrants first?” said Loretta Humphrey, president of the Greater TriAngular Civic Association in an interview. “And that's why you have an angry city. Because you're not taking care of your people in the city.”
Her comments, which others echoed, suggested that even as he seeks to shift blame, a New York City mayor cannot escape accountability.
As Adams walked away from reporters Thursday, his chosen song that plays at most of his public events seemed to say as much: “There’s nothing you can’t do.”
Correction: A previous version of this story mistakenly reported a fee attached to applications for asylum. There is no fee for the process.
Tagged
new york city
housing
Asylum Seekers
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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