New York Democrats fear looming political 'disaster' over migrant crisis: 'Ticking time bomb'
'It's just a question of when this all sort of explodes,' one Democratic consultant told The New York Times
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Some Democrats are warning their party that how New York leadership is handling the influx of migrants could backfire and be a "disaster" for their party in the next election.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have been publicly feuding this week over how each has managed the migrant crisis, which is stretching city resources. Over 100,000 migrants have been provided shelter and services in NYC since last spring, Adams' office has reported.
Worried Democrats told The New York Times that if party leaders fail to fix the crisis, it will cost them dearly in the next election, after the party lost four House seats on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley to Republicans in the 2022 midterms.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It’s just a question of when this all sort of explodes," Democratic political consultant Charlie King, a former lieutenant governor candidate, told the paper. "I just don’t know how long you can evade this, and I don’t know that it gets better in the next 18 to 24 months."
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been dealing with a massive migrant surge in the city. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Democratic strategist Howard Wolfson, a former political adviser to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, feared the issue was a "ticking time bomb," and the strategy of busing migrants to surrounding cities in the state could backfire for them politically.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There is no question in my mind that the politics of this is a disaster to Democrats," he told the Times.
"This issue alone has the potential to cost Democrats the House, because it is such a huge issue in New York City and the coverage of it is clearly heard and seen by voters in all of these swing districts in the suburbs," he added.
"Moving more migrants outside New York City is bound to spark divisive flare-ups in the suburbs and more conservative parts of the state, fueling attacks from national Republicans who have already harnessed the situation as an election issue talking point and to boost fund-raising," the Times reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Migrants gather outside the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on Aug. 2, 2023, where dozens of recently arrived migrants have been camping out as they try to secure temporary housing. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
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The report also highlighted criticism from Democrats warning Hochul she was not being aggressive enough in relieving NYC of the burden caused by the influx of migrants.
Joshua Goldfein, a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society, told the Times that Hochul needed to take aggressive action, like previous Gov. Andrew Cuomo would have done, by imposing a statewide policy on the issue.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"She could take charge of the situation and limit the ability of local governments to create their own policy around migrant issues," Goldfein told the Times.
Dozens of New York counties have tried to stop Adams from housing asylum seekers in their towns, pointing to security issues caused by migrants who commit crimes.
Adams responded to this pushback by calling on Hochul to issue an executive order blocking these localities from passing ordinances banning migrant housing from being constructed in their regions.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In June, Adams filed a lawsuit against 30 New York counties that had passed local executive orders intended to stop the city from placing migrants in their jurisdictions.
Some Democrats have called on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to take a more active role in addressing the migrant crisis in her state. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Hochul's office has argued the city is better equipped to handle the migrant influx because of a "unique legal requirement to house anyone in need of a bed," the Times reported.
Avi Small, a spokesman for the governor, told the paper that the solution was to give migrants legal jobs not bus them out of the city "against their will."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lawyers with Hochul's office also reminded Adams the state had given nearly $1.5 billion in aid to the city and would continue to provide financial support.
Both leaders have blamed the Biden administration for not doing enough to help with crisis, calling it a national problem.
"The migrant crisis has been extremely costly and will continue to require significant financial resources," Hochul's lawyers wrote in a letter to Adams this week. "Neither the City nor the State should have to absorb these operational needs or costs for what is a matter of federal concern."
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Fox News' Chris Pandolfo and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
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