Biden admin asks New York private companies to help with refugee crisis – by offering free services

The Biden administration has once again denied responsibility for New York’s deepening refugee crisis — this time by urging the Empire State’s private companies to get involved, while the company is offering just $600 million to buy the billion-dollar one to balance the crisis.

The proposal, put forward by White House officials at a meeting with Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday, called for the city’s businesses to offer free services to asylum seekers, including free legal advice, the Post learned Thursday.

The request for assistance also extends to free help in educating and advising migrants on applying for a work permit.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration said it will ask Congress for $600 million to help New York feed and house the influx of migrants arriving in the Big Apple under the president’s soft border policy.

Even if the Big Apple gets the paltry amount from the government, the total would be $746 million — just a fraction of the $5.2 billion already spent on caring for the more than 107,000 asylum seekers who have since arrived Arrived from the southern border in spring 2022.

Mayor Eric Adams has also warned that the crisis could cost the city a staggering $12 billion by 2025.

The federal government’s new strategy — a slap in the face to the New York business community who have called for von Biden to take charge of the immigration crisis — came just hours after Hochul traveled to DC on Wednesday to meet with the president’s chief of staff, Jeff Zients to meet.

The governor claimed she emerged from Wednesday’s meeting “feeling engaged” after being promised a “boost in resources” for the city over the next few weeks.

“You understand that a lot of time has passed and that this situation has only gotten worse,” the governor told NY1.

The proposal also came just days after the White House ridiculed that it was to blame for the influx, saying the problems of the Big Apple and the state itself were to blame for the catastrophic mess.

New York City is currently serving nearly 60,000 asylum seekers — and thousands of migrant children are expected to be in a public school by Sept. 7, according to the Department of Education.

The flooding continues to cripple the Big Apple’s resources, and authorities are scrambling to find shelter for the about 3,000 migrants who have been arriving each week lately, according to City Hall officials.

Meanwhile, New York City is still waiting for the “connection” — a liaison between the Department of Homeland Security and Mayor Adams’ administration that Hizzoner promised during his July 27 trip to Washington, DC.

Meanwhile, Hochul said the government has pledged to soon send Department of Homeless Security staff to New York City to help process asylum applications.

The governor said she was asking for a “high number” of DHS workers – but acknowledged that neither the number of workers nor their arrival date had been specified.

She also asked the Department of Transportation for help in offsetting some of the transportation costs, but received no immediate commitment.

“This is the first time we’re seeing an intergovernmental approach now,” she nonetheless insisted, telling NY1 she believes the White House’s recent efforts aren’t just “lip service.”

The DC session came in response to Hochul’s letter to the government last week, in which she publicly blamed Biden for the first time for causing the crisis and failing to step in to adequately address it.

More than 100 Big Apple executives echoed the governor’s demands just days later, authoring a letter Monday to the president and Congress calling for action.

“The immigration policies and control of our country’s borders are clearly the responsibility of the federal government; State and local governments have no right in this matter,” the letter said.

The pressure of the humanitarian crisis is also dividing the city and the state.

Big Apple officials have criticized Hochul for not doing enough to help.

The mayor said the governor acted “wrong” when she failed to use her power to force other parts of the state to share some of the burden of housing the migrants.

“There is only one state, New York, so we should all get involved in the state in this matter,” Adams said Thursday morning.

“We’re sending a message clear and loud, and echoing the message of others: The Biden-Harris administration and Congress must find a real solution,” Adams added at a work permit rally for migrant workers.

Despite the divide, both city and state officials have repeatedly lobbied for the government to expedite the work visa process for asylum seekers. However, any change to the process would have to come through an act of Congress, the White House said.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has urged New York leaders to increase the reach of the work visa process and collect work permit information upon arrival of migrants.

Additional reporting by Nolan Hicks and Steve Nelson