NYC councilwoman sounds the alarm that asylum seekers flooding into Eagle Pass, Texas, will be in New York in less than a WEEK
A New York City councilwoman has predicted that the flood of asylum seekers pouring into Texas this week will reach New York within days, while warning that the migrants will not be deported even if they commit crimes.
As many as 10,000 migrants have entered Eagle Pass, a small border town with fewer than 30,000 residents, since Wednesday morning. Most have been released after being processed and will remain free while they wait for their asylum appointment – a process that can take years.
According to local reports, most of the asylum seekers are Venezuelans who say they were forced to leave their home country due to the South American nation’s economic and social collapse under the socialist regime of Nicolas Maduro.
Conservative Queens Councilwoman Vickie Paladino addressed the situation Wednesday, arguing that migrant crossings will soon exacerbate the crisis in New York City, where more than 113,000 asylum seekers have arrived since last spring.
“They will most likely be in New York in less than a week,” Paladino said Wednesday. “This is not normal, this is not okay, this is not human, and we have absolutely no obligation to care for these people with housing, welfare or anything else.”
Conservative Queens Councilwoman Vickie Paladino predicted that the wave of asylum seekers pouring into Texas will reach New York in just days.
As many as 10,000 migrants have entered Eagle Pass, a small border town with fewer than 30,000 residents, since Wednesday morning.
The Republican further claimed that the migrants crossing the border have no “legitimate claim” to asylum — “and everyone knows it.”
Commenting on videos showing the scene at Eagle Pass, she added: “This is an open border that anyone can walk across at their leisure.
‘There is no deportation, there is no enforcement, there is no order. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.
“These people will face trial well into the 2030s, during which time they will be released freely into this country. They will not be deported even if they commit crimes.
“And by the time their court hearings finally take place, we will be told that the courts cannot handle the volume, and that a massive amnesty is the only solution. That’s the only direction this is going.”
Asylum seekers are generally not deported while their applications are still being processed, and the wait time for asylum interviews has lengthened as more people arrive.
If they commit crimes, they are imprisoned instead of deported.
Asylum seekers are also unable to work while they wait for the government to consider their claim, which worsened the situation in New York as the migrants were unable to support themselves financially and were dependent on the city’s care.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration granted temporary protected status to the nearly half a million Venezuelans awaiting asylum in the US. They are now allowed to work in the field, as Mayor Eric Adams requested.
Paladino also took aim at the Biden administration in her post, writing, “This is purely a failure of the Biden administration. They did this. They wanted this. It’s intentional. And they don’t care what it does to our city, our neighborhoods or our quality of life.”
According to local reports, most of the asylum seekers are Venezuelans who say they were forced to flee the South American nation’s economic and social collapse.
While Democratic officials in progressive cities like NYC and Chicago have blamed the governor of Texas for sending migrants to northern states, Paladino defended the fellow Republican.
“This has absolutely nothing to do with Greg Abbott, other than the fact that he tried to secure the border himself, but was then repeatedly sued by the Biden administration to reopen the parts of the border he tried to close. That’s really insane when you think about it,” she claimed.
The flow of migrants into Eagle Pass has created a state of emergency in the small border town, where shelters and hospitals are now overwhelmed.
Yesterday, a three-year-old boy drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande to Eagle Pass with his family.
The bridge between Eagle Pass and the Mexican city across the border, Piedras Negras, was closed Wednesday so border agents could be deployed to work on migrant processing.
Rolando Salinas, the mayor of Eagle Pass, said 2,500 people entered his city of 29,000 on Monday, and 7,200 the week before.
So far this year, the Del Rio sector of the border, where Eagle Pass is located, has recorded 317,866 “encounters” with migrants, the latest Border Patrol data shows.
This figure is a decrease of 15.5 percent from the same period last year, but Salinas said his city was still struggling.
Amid the fear at the border, the Biden administration trumpeted its decision on Venezuela.
Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security, has authorized the expansion of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) due to “Venezuela’s increased instability and lack of security due to ongoing humanitarian, security, political and environmental conditions” , the ministry said in a statement. .
New York City’s migrant crisis is expected to cost the city $4.7 billion this year. Above is a list of some of the landmarks that have been converted into emergency shelters as officials struggle to house nearly 60,000 migrants in the city’s care
The Roosevelt Hotel (pictured), the Paul Hotel and the Paramount Hotel are among the places designated for migrant housing in Manhattan
There are currently approximately 242,700 TPS beneficiaries under Venezuela’s existing TPS status, who will be able to stay for an additional 18 months. There are another approximately 472,000 Venezuelan nationals who are now eligible for the scheme.
Critics say the promise of work will encourage illegal crossings — even though anyone who crosses the border after July 31 or has not registered will not be eligible.
But proponents of the plan said it gave migrants awaiting processing the opportunity to work and earn a living, easing the burden on states.
“Since last spring, more than 116,000 asylum seekers have come to New York City seeking the American Dream,” tweeted Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City and one of the most outspoken advocates for allowing migrants to work.
“Our administration and our partners across the city have been leading the call to ‘Let Them Work,’ so I want to thank @POTUS for hearing our entire coalition, including our hardworking congressional delegation, and taking this important step that hopes will bring to the thousands of Venezuelan asylum seekers currently in our care who will now immediately qualify for Temporary Protected Status.”
Adams is facing an angry backlash after more than 110,000 migrants have poured into the city since spring 2022. Many of the migrants have been transported north from Republican border states in an effort to prove that Democrats’ open arms policy is a disaster.
NYC has a legal obligation to provide shelter for those who come there, and Adams has desperately turned to a variety of city landmarks, such as hotels, makeshift shelters, and temporary housing, as short-term solutions.
New York officials have been sounding the alarm for months about their inability to right the ship, with Adams warning that his office estimates the issue will cost the city about $12 billion in just three years.
Adams warned that the city’s services will be affected by the incredible additional spending in the budget. He has previously stated that the city plans to cut services such as library hours, meals for seniors and free day care for three-year-olds.