Sept. 26, 2023 – Albany, NY – Governor Kathy Hochul speaks throughout a information convention within the Crimson Room on the State Capitol.
Mike Groll/Workplace of Governor Kathy Hochul
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday deployed an extra 150 members of the New York Nationwide Guard to assist the continuing response to the asylum seeker and migrant disaster.
A lot of asylum seekers coming to New York from the southern border states are nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Cuba.
In view of this new deployment, Hochul mentioned the state will have the ability to assign 250 Nationwide Guard personnel the full-time obligations of case administration professionals.
She mentioned this deployment, together with the $50million state funding in case administration to date, will assist asylum seekers and migrants file the suitable paperwork to realize authorized work standing and exit taxpayer-funded shelters.
“It’s crucial that we assist safe work authorization for asylum seekers and migrants in New York,” Gov. Hochul mentioned. “We have to guarantee people can navigate the paperwork essential to get them established right here to allow them to work and begin making their American Dream a actuality. Our Nationwide Guard members play an enormous function in aiding within the course of and we’re grateful for his or her service.”
She mentioned this deployment builds on the 1,900 Nationwide Guard personnel who’re presently offering logistical and operational assist to asylum seekers statewide.
Hochul mentioned New York Nationwide Guard personnel are presently staffing 51 lodges and two New York Metropolis Humanitarian Emergency Response and Reduction Facilities.
Along with the New York Nationwide Guard, the governor has directed different state assets to assist Venezuelans and different asylum seekers and migrants submit the suitable paperwork to speedily obtain authorized work standing.
Working in partnership with federal and metropolis officers, Hochul mentioned New York is within the midst of a “Month of Motion” by which greater than 50 personnel from the federal Division of Homeland Safety are in New York working to course of work authorization paperwork.
She mentioned this builds on an extra $20 million allotted to native nonprofits, $20 million allotted to assist New York Metropolis with a casework surge by NYC Well being + Hospitals, in addition to $10 million for migrant authorized providers allotted within the FY24 Price range.
Earlier this month, White Home officers introduced sure people from Venezuela, who’ve repeatedly resided in the USA on or earlier than Jul. 31, 2023, will likely be eligible to use for Non permanent Protected Standing (TPS).
This announcement adopted greater than a 12 months of advocacy from Hochul, New York Metropolis Mayor Eric Adams and a broad coalition of New Yorkers “working to safe work authorization for asylum seekers and migrants, permitting them to exit the shelter system and start residing independently.”
Final month, Hochul directed the New York State Division of Labor to attach employers with newly-eligible asylum seekers and migrants who’re on the trail to receiving work authorizations.
Greater than 70 state personnel, representing 16 separate state companies, have been surged to help on this work authorization effort, the governor mentioned.
She additionally introduced the Division had launched a brand new portal enabling companies to tell the state that they might welcome newly-authorized people into their workforce.
The Division additionally created a brand new registration course of by which asylum seekers and migrants with work authorization can register for help.
Hochul mentioned officers from the New York State Division of Labor and the USA Division of Labor will meet within the coming days to debate alternatives for partnership and development.
She mentioned she has recognized work authorization as the important thing issue to finish this disaster.
She mentioned she raised this concern with senior administration officers throughout her assembly on the White Home three weeks in the past, reiterating a request she made in a letter to President Joe Biden earlier that month.
The governor mentioned she has supported New York Metropolis all through this disaster, together with committing greater than $1.7 billion in state funding starting with the FY24 Price range, deploying greater than 2,000 members of the Nationwide Guard, and mobilizing state-owned land for use as Humanitarian Emergency Reduction and Response Efforts.
“New York State is working laborious to help NYC with the continuing asylum seeker disaster,” mentioned Division of Homeland Safety and Emergency Providers Commissioner Jackie Bray. “Gov. Hochul has been centered on discovering methods to assist migrants and asylum seekers in NYC’s shelters go away shelter by resourcing and advocating for pathways to work authorization and authorized providers.
“There’s extra to be accomplished to make sure migrants might be self-sufficient right here in New York, and Gov. Hochul will proceed to take each motion obtainable to make sure that occurs.”
Main Normal Ray Shields mentioned, “The members of the New York Nationwide Guard and our State Protection Forces sit up for taking part in a task within the efforts to assist asylum seekers hyperlink with providers they have to be profitable, and discover alternatives and jobs they have to be self-sufficient.”
