Governor Hochul: “I'm really grateful to the Biden Administration for listening to us. They want to be partners. But what's missing in this equation are Republicans who will get back to Washington, stop talking about shutting down the government, roll up their sleeves, and work with the Biden Administration.”
Hochul: “What I can do in the state is continue to support the City. We have allocated $1.7 billion this year, and we're also using that to track the individuals who arrived, know who they are, try to help them go elsewhere if they can, try to get the Venezuelans into jobs if they're eligible. I’ve stood up a whole of government approach to start really managing this.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul was a guest on Morning Joe to discuss the asylum seeker crisis in New York State.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Willie Geist, MSNBC: Joining us now, Democratic Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, who spoke to President Biden about the issue this week. Governor, good morning. Good to have you with us. Let’s begin with the new work permits
Governor Hochul: Good morning.
Willie Geist, MSNBC: Nearly half a million, as I said, Venezuelan nationals will be allowed to work. That is good news for you — why? How do you explain that? Is it because now they can go out and support themselves rather than being on government shelters and support?
Governor Hochul: That's exactly what it is. I have been advocating for this since the Summer of 2022, directly with the President and the White House, joined by Mayor Adams, Majority Leader Schumer, Senator Gillibrand and our entire delegation of Democrats. I want to put a caveat; the Democrats have supported this. Here’s why. These individuals came here in search of what all of our immigrant parents, grandparents, and great grandparents came for. And that’s a shot at a better life. But it all comes down to whether or not you can work. We’ve had this untenable situation, where because of the City's right to shelter agreement, these individuals have been housed at taxpayer cost but not able to work. We have been saying, put them to work. We have a crisis right now, a worker shortage crisis in the State of New York. Our state is on fire, we have over 460,000 empty jobs right now. We have the ability to connect this: a humanitarian crisis, address that by addressing the opportunity to create work. And then I have employers all over the State of New York — Republicans, Democrats, independent, unaffiliated, who are salivating, happy to get the chance to get workers, reopen some of their restaurants and hotels and the resorts, work in nursing homes and to work in hospital kitchens. There’s a demand here. But we also have to be certain that this does not lead to a pull of attracting more people because our shelters really are at capacity right now. So, I'm really grateful to the Biden Administration for listening to us. They want to be partners. But what's missing in this equation are Republicans who will get back to Washington, stop talking about shutting down the government, roll up their sleeves, and work with the Biden Administration for a comprehensive immigration policy that starts at the border, is common sense, and will do this in a more orderly fashion. But this is a very good news dynamic for us this week. We were waiting for this. We were hopeful for this. The president told me this week it would happen.
Willie Geist, MSNBC: We should say again, to underline your point, you have to have arrived before July 31 if you’re a Venezuelan national.
Governor Hochul: That’s right.
Willie Geist, MSNBC: They don't want this to be an invitation for more people to come because of it. You touched on this a bit, Governor, and we saw some numbers on the screen while you were talking, but you are — in the State of New York and in the City of New York — at a crisis point, a breaking point. We have heard the frustration from New York City Mayor Eric Adams at President Biden himself, at this Administration, at you, oftentimes, because he wants to move some of those migrants Upstate. How do you describe the depth of the crisis in New York and in other places across the country?
Governor Hochul: Well, it's not being distributed fairly. We should have a decompression border either in Mexico or right across the border, where decisions are based on where there's capacity, where there's space. There are many cities, many states not housing any of these migrants. But because New York City has had this pull, this 40-year-old right to shelter, people have come to New York City. That’s another area the Mayor and I need to look at together, and we are looking at it, and trying to figure out a way we can say, “This was intended to help homeless people stay off the streets, help families, but it was never intended to be an unlimited, universal right, an obligation to shelter the entire world.” And that's the way it's been interpreted. Once that gets fixed, as well as this opportunity to get the Venezuelans to work, it should take a lot of pressure off. But we really need to stop the incoming. We’re still seeing about 3,000 a week. That’s unsustainable. We’re working so hard, spending millions of dollars, state dollars, to build shelters to house 3,000 here, 2,000 here, 1,000 here. It’s still not enough.
So, the word has to get out that New York has always been that place of welcoming immigrants. All of us came from somewhere, our parents did, our grandparents did. But there is a limit to who we can house at this time. And we need the rest of the country to step up. But most importantly, it starts at the border with enforcement, and it also has to start in Washington with common sense immigration reform, which I know we're capable of because as a young attorney for Senator Moynihan in 1986, I worked on the last major immigration reform. And it was a bipartisan compromise. And that’s the last time we really saw statesmanship in Washington, and that's what I’m calling for now.
Donny Deutsch, MSNBC: Governor, Donny Deutsch, nice to talk to you. We were talking, an earlier hour, that the real hot button issue that the Democrats are going to face, that Biden is going to face, and you're going to face when you come up for re-election, is this migrant issue. It is at a crisis point, as Willie said. And it does not feel like anything is getting done. It feels like it is getting worse. So, what are you going to do, you specifically as the Governor of the state, to help this problem? This is something that is going to really, really affect the Democrats. I feel something palpable in New York. I feel fear. I’ve never felt it before. I hear it from everybody. What are you going to do?
Governor Hochul: Well, I feel the same thing. I see it and hear it. I was on the subways two days ago. People are talking about this. But there is an answer to this. As I mentioned, it's two-fold. One is more enforcement at the border because people are coming here illegally. Even just saying here seeking asylum, without basis for that, it'll take five to seven years to determine whether or not someone is here legally through asylum. And at that point, then they have to go back if they're denied. It’s a system that's broken there. Also, in Washington, we need help with comprehensive immigration reform. The Republicans have to stop playing political games with this. They have to get back to work and do the right thing. But what I can do in the state is continue to support the City. We have allocated $1.7 billion this year, and we're also using that to track the individuals who arrived, know who they are, try to help them go elsewhere if they can, try to get the Venezuelans into jobs if they're eligible. I’ve stood up a whole of government approach to start really managing this and saying, “There’s jobs in this community, and employers want them here.” So, I agree with you, this is a political vulnerability, but it doesn't have to be. Democrats have answers, but as long as Republicans see that they can make gains with this, that they can score more points with this, then they're not willing to come to the table and actually do what Americans want, which is two parties working together to solve problems. That shouldn't be such a radical concept. So that's what we're facing now, is this gridlock that is driven by the Republicans who are enjoying this spectacle, who have no intention of helping solve it. So, this lies on their feet, as well.
Mike Barnicle, MSNBC: Governor, as you know better than most, there are several elements of the migrant issue affecting New York State and New York’s communities, as well as other states and other small communities. But one of the elements that could trigger really lastingdamage and feelings, lingering feelings among the people it effects, is the migrants who come with children. Children have to attend school. They are put into school systems, and sometimes sit in classrooms that are already overcrowded, and they take their problems home to their parents, telling them about overcrowded classes and not getting enough attention from teachers. What, if anything, can be done about that very real, live issue?
Governor Hochul: I will tell you right now, the children who have arrived and have been embraced by the New York City public school system, and I credit the teachers, the administrators, the Adams Administration for making this work, and also the Teachers Union. Michael Mulgrew stepped up and said, “These are our children.” These children are literally traumatized. What they have been through, what they have seen on this journey is nothing that a child should ever have to experience. I’m a mother, this is personal to me. I commend the school districts who have embraced them, and we have some upstate, as well, in Albany, and Upstate New York. They've been welcomed.
So, it is a challenge for our system. That's why the volume has to slow down and eventually cease. We can handle what we have now, but if it continues at the rate it is going, then there's not going to be a thoughtful answer to this because we will have the overcrowding. It'll affect the quality of education for everyone. So, that's also, as you mentioned, part of the collateral damage of a country that does not have immigration policies that are actually functioning. The only way they can change is by Congress, and unfortunately, Republicans control the house, and they refuse to do anything. So, that's the direct line from the failure in Washington to get this done and what is happening to these innocent children right now being taken care of by really dedicated teachers in New York City.
Mika Brzezinski, MSNBC: Democratic Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, thank you very much for being on the show this morning.
Governor Hochul: Thank you.