President Joe Biden did not address the migrant crisis during his trip to New York City this week, ignoring the issue at an event with the governor and failing to meet with Democratic Mayor Eric Adams to discuss his concerns.
Biden addressed world leaders at the United Nations on Tuesday, discussing China, Russia and climate change but neglecting to mention the migrant crisis on the world stage. The president did not have any plans to visit NYC migrant shelters or other areas affected by the crisis on his public schedule on Tuesday or Wednesday. (RELATED: KJP Claims Biden Has Done ‘More’ For The Border Than Anyone Else)
“While President Biden visited our city, he ignored the impacts of his failed border policies,” Democratic New York City Councilman Robert Holden, who has previously called on the president to address the migrant crisis, told the Daily Caller. “Despite mingling with the entire world, he turned a blind eye to New Yorkers, a misstep this city will long remember.”
At a UN General Assembly reception at the city’s Metropolitan Museum of Art on Tuesday evening, Biden did not discuss the migrant crisis during his remarks, despite Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s presence in the room. Biden acknowledged the attendees’ work “to support the world’s most vulnerable” but did not specifically mention migrants.
The Biden administration has extended some aid to the state to help deal with the influx of illegal migrants. Hochul met with several administration officials in August, though not directly with Biden himself, to discuss the crisis, and the administration pledged to help the Hochul fill job vacancies with migrants who are straining the city’s social safety net.
Adams, who has repeatedly accused the president of failing to support the city as it struggles to provide migrants with shelter and resources, declined an invitation to the reception, according to the New York Post.
“President Biden’s coming to the city,” Adams said Wednesday. “I am hoping that he understands this beautiful city that’s the economic engine of the entire country is being saddled with $2 billion that we spent already, $5 billion we’re going to spend in this fiscal crisis, $12 billion in the next two budgetary cycles. New York doesn’t deserve this. The asylum seekers don’t deserve this.”
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on September 19, 2023 in New York City. Heads of states and governments from at least 145 countries are gathered for the 78th UNGA session amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and fires around the globe. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Following the president’s visit to NYC, the Biden administration granted protections to thousands of Venezuelans that would enable them to apply for work permits and remain in the country without fear of deportation. Both Hochul and Adams praised the decision, calling it an “important first step” in helping relieve the migrant crisis, according to ABC 7 News.
“You know, not visiting a shelter, not talking to Eric Adams, not talking about the [migrant crisis] at the UN, it is the same reason why he only went to the border one time in 32 months, he only went to the border because politically he was forced to go,” Mark Morgan, former U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) acting commissioner, told the Caller. “It’s just part of the strategy to say, ‘We want open borders. We’re doing this by design, and then we’re just gonna pretend like it’s not a big deal. And actually, we’re doing a really, really good job.'”
The White House and Adams’ office did not immediately respond to the Caller’s requests for comment.