On Monday, New York City’s top business leaders demanded President Joe Biden speed up the. work permit process for the tens of thousands of asylum seekers pouring into the Big Apple.
In a letter sent to the president and members of Congress, 122 execs from JPMorgan, Macy’s, Pfizer, Citi, and other big companies urged Biden to provide much-needed financial relief to cities including New York that are bearing the brunt of the influx of people from south of the border.
“Immigration policies and control of our country’s border are clearly a federal responsibility; state and local governments have no standing in this matter,” said the letter organized by the Partnership for New York City. “The New York business community is deeply concerned about the humanitarian crisis that has resulted from the continued flow of asylum-seekers into our country.”
This plea from the private sector comes as the Biden Administration has been rebuffing the criticism that they have not done enough, instead questioning the city’s methods of dealing with the issue.
“The structural issues include governance and organization of the migrant operations, including issues of authority, structure, personnel, and information flow,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas wrote of the city’s logistics. “The operational issues include the subjects of data collection, planning, case management, communications, and other aspects of day-to-day operations.”
