Governor Hochul: “We have been talking to the President, the White House, the Secretary of Homeland Security for many months, for well over a year, about our desire to have federal support for money, locations, but also work authorization because you have people here who are in shelters supported by the City. And Mayor Adams was doing an extraordinary job, but they can't work. So, top of my list has been Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans.”
Hochul: “We need a strong federal immigration policy. Full stop. And that's why instead of talking about shutting down the government, I'm calling on the nine Republican members of Congress from New York and the rest of our Republican leadership in Washington to do the right thing and meet with President Biden and come up with a comprehensive immigration plan that deals with the border, but also takes care of the people here.”
Last night, Governor Kathy Hochul was a guest on CNN to discuss the ongoing asylum seeker crisis and the White House’s notice to grant work authorization and Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan asylum seekers and migrants.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Abby Phillip, CNN: Breaking news tonight as migrant crossings at the border surge again. The Biden administration moments ago, announcing it will offer work permits and temporary legal status to nearly half a million Venezuelan migrants. Now, this comes as President Biden faced pressure from blue states, including the State of New York.
Let's discuss this with New York's own Governor, Kathy Hochul, who met with President Biden just this week. When you met with President Biden, was this one of the things – did you get a commitment from him in that meeting to do something like this?
Governor Hochul: We have been talking to the President, the White House, the Secretary of Homeland Security for many months, for well over a year, about our desire to have federal support for money, locations, but also work authorization because you have people here who are in shelters supported by the City. And Mayor Adams was doing an extraordinary job, but they can't work.
So, top of my list has been Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans. Yes, we spoke about it yesterday. The President tipped me off and said we've been heard, he understands, and that the announcement would come today.
Abby Phillip, CNN: So, why did it take so long?
Governor Hochul: Well, obviously, there's a lot of competing interests. You know, you have to be certain that you're not going to take a supportive policy that's going to draw more people because places like New York really are at capacity. You know, we have large hearts. We want to be generous and supportive to people who are experiencing humanitarian crisis, but there is a limit to what we can do. So, the fear would probably be, and I don't want to speak for them, but you have to ensure that we can also have controls at the borders and not welcome even more people to come who think they're going to come for the job.
So, this is a good approach. I thank the President for having a limit. This is for people who came before July 31st, so it's not an enticement for more to come after. I think that was an important consideration. But also, it really does have slow down at the border because the volume keeps growing and growing.
Abby Phillip, CNN: It only applies to Venezuelans, and this is a huge chunk of people, it's almost half a million people, but do you think that this will actually have a measurable effect on the problems that New York specifically is facing?
Governor Hochul: It certainly will because about 41 percent of the people in our shelters today are from Venezuela. They're really from around the world – West Africa, South and Central America, they're coming from all over. But we have to let the word out that when you come to New York, we're not going to have more hotel rooms. We don't have capacity. So, we have to also message properly that we're at our limit. If you're going to leave your country, go somewhere else. But the smarter thing is to apply for asylum before you leave your country, and then you'll have a different experience when you arrive. But we're just trying to deal with the crisis we have right now. We need to get people out of the shelters and into jobs and we have a shortage of workers.
Abby Phillip, CNN: Some people have said that New York's right, its mandate for shelter is a draw for people to come here and they've called on it to either be paused or rescinded. Would you support anything like that?
Governor Hochul: Yes, I would because the original premise behind the right the shelter was for – started as for homeless men on the streets. People were experiencing AIDS, then it was expanded to families. That is the right thing to do. But never was it envisioned that this would be an unlimited universal right or obligation on the City to have to house literally entire world.
Abby Phillip, CNN: Would you like to see it go away entirely or on a temporary basis?
Governor Hochul: No, no. This is one of the reasons we don't have an enormous homelessness problem. We have about 4,500 people on the streets of New York tonight. That is far too many. Other states, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland – they have tens of thousands, I mean 90,000 people. So, we want to make sure that no families end up on the streets. We don't want anything to happen to our children, but we also have to let the world know that there have to be limits to this.
There is a limit to what we can handle as a state, and it's financially going to start ensuring that there are cuts in services. The Mayor has said this. The State of New York has already committed $1.7 billion this year alone, and we're just starting to head into our planning for next year. It is a huge drain, but it's also an opportunity to take care of the people who arrive from Venezuela because their conditions in their home country now make us realize they don't have anything to go back to.
Abby Phillip, CNN: Mayor Adams did not meet with President Biden this week while you did, and he's been very vocal. He has a certain, as he says, he has a certain style, but it seems like that relationship has become strained. Has that made it harder for New York to get what it needs to solve this problem?
Governor Hochul: No, and I'm working closely with the Mayor, and he has his style and I have mine. I went to the White House, spend two and a half hours there a couple of weeks ago. I was very persistent that something has to change right now.
So, I'm not going to speak to that. We're allies in this together. The White House understands. They're not trying to hurt the Mayor. They're not trying to hurt the City. And this is an important first step for the Mayor and I to be able to manage the scale of people that are in shelters, get them jobs. And I have deployed already the state government. As of an hour ago, I have 16 agencies sending volunteers, identifying the individuals who can benefit, and letting us get them into the jobs we have.
Abby Phillip, CNN: Real quick before we go, does this make you understand better what border cities have been going through for years?
Governor Hochul: Of course, we do. Of course, we do. We need a strong federal immigration policy. Full stop. And that's why instead of talking about shutting down the government, I'm calling on the nine Republican members of Congress from New York and the rest of our Republican leadership in Washington to do the right thing and meet with President Biden and come up with a comprehensive immigration plan that deals with the border, but also takes care of the people here. That's what we need.
Abby Phillip, CNN: Governor Kathy Hochul, thank you so much for joining us tonight on short notice on this breaking news.
Governor Hochul: Thank you.