XPost: alt.politics.immigration, alt.politics.republicans, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
XPost: sac.politics, alt.society.liberalism
The Biden administration said late Wednesday that it would allow hundreds
of thousands of Venezuelans already in the United States to live and work legally in the country for 18 months.
The decision followed intense advocacy by top New York Democrats,
including Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams and party leaders in
Congress. It will affect about 472,000 Venezuelans who arrived in the
country before July 31, temporarily protecting them from removal and
waiving a monthslong waiting period for them to seek employment
authorization.
In an unusual break with a president of their party, the New York
Democrats had argued that the city’s social safety net would tear under
the weight of more than 110,000 recently arrived migrants unless they were allowed to work and support themselves more quickly.
Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, said that he made the decision because conditions in Venezuela “prevent their safe return” but stressed that immigrants who had entered the country since August were not protected and would be “removed when they are found to not have a legal
basis to stay.”
In a joint statement, Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem
Jeffries of New York, the top Democrats in the Senate and House, said that
the Homeland Security Department had estimated that roughly half the
migrants currently living in New York are Venezuelans who would be
affected by the decision. They called it a “welcome step forward.”
“As a result of this decision, immigrants will be temporarily allowed to
work, fill needed jobs and support their families while awaiting an asylum determination,” they wrote. “The decision will also substantially reduce
the cost to New York taxpayers with respect to the sheltering of asylum seekers.”
Democratic leaders elsewhere, including in Illinois, have also been
calling for help, and praised the move on Wednesday evening.
As the number of migrants rises in Northern cities, straining budgets and space, Democratic candidates and political strategists have been
increasingly worried the crisis could hurt their standing among voters. Republicans in New York, for instance, where control of the House could be decided next year, have wasted little time in stoking a sense of chaos and Democratic discord in races for key swing seats.
The administration’s decision, which was part of a raft of actions to deal
with the crush of migrants trying to cross the border, was announced on Wednesday as Mr. Biden was leaving New York City after a four-day visit
for the United Nations General Assembly.
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The president largely steered around the city’s migrant crisis in his
public schedule. But he huddled privately with Ms. Hochul to discuss the
matter Tuesday night during a star-studded reception at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art. On Wednesday, she called special status for Venezuelans
“one of our top priorities.”
The administration had already extended humanitarian protections to close
to 250,000 Venezuelans who had arrived in the country by March 2021. But officials had been wary that extending it more broadly could create a new, longer-term incentive for migrants to attempt to cross into the country.
Mr. Adams, who has been the most forceful Democrat pushing the Biden administration to help New York deal with the mounting toll, thanked the
White House on Wednesday. But he immediately reiterated calls for the
Biden administration to extend the special protections of tens of
thousands of migrants from other nations.
The city is currently providing shelter to 60,000 asylum seekers. Mr.
Adams has estimated that housing, along with education and health care,
could cost the city $12 billion in the coming years. Allowing more of
those migrants to begin working and earning money could help ease some of
the burden on the system, while generating new tax revenue.
The White House has taken other steps to help New York City. The Biden administration helped secure $140 million in emergency funds for New York
and has requested more from Congress. Dozens of federal officials are also
on the ground in New York City trying to help identify other migrants who
were already eligible for employment but had yet to file applications.
White House officials argue that only Congress can meaningfully overhaul
the nation’s immigration system, altering the flow of migrants and
changing the rules around who can work when. Privately, they have made
little secret of their distaste for Mr. Adams’s outspoken criticism, and
other Democrats have pointed out that the mayor’s comments are now being
quoted extensively by Republicans to attack Mr. Biden.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/20/nyregion/biden-adams-migrants.html
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