Eric Adams Moves To Fill Jobs In New York City With Immigrants

Eric Adams Moves To Fill Jobs In New York City With Illegal Immigrants

Jennie Taer on March 7, 2023

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams is implementing a program to let illegal immigrants fill jobs in his city, he announced Tuesday.

Adams announced a new “blueprint” for helping illegal immigrants in the long-term by helping train them to work to address the shortage in restaurant workers and truck drivers, Adams said. The city is currently caring for roughly 30,000 illegal immigrants, according to Adams’ office.

“Every job that’s available, everything from the shortage in restaurant employees — there’s a real shortage in restaurant employees. I hear it all the time of those who can get their commercial driver’s license. We have a shortage in truck operators. We have a shortage in you name the field,” Adams said during a press conference.

“So, we’re going to identify the areas that are in higher demand with our partnerships in business and we’re going to connect people with those jobs and start giving them the training now,” Adams said.

The cost of helping illegal immigrants get to work will hopefully help the city with the costs of having to support them, Adams explained.

“Although an average of more than 82,200 new jobs have been posted every month in New York City in 2022, the federal government requires asylum seekers to wait for years to receive work permits,” the blueprint states.

“This exacerbates the challenges that both migrants and the city face. The cost of providing for asylum seekers because of their inability to work legally is becoming increasingly unsustainable for our municipal government. Allowing asylum seekers to work while their immigration claims are being processed helps fill job vacancies, creates self-sufficiency, and reduces reliance on the city’s strained shelter and support system,” the blueprint adds.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing illegal immigrants to the Big Apple in August amid a surge at the southern border. The Democratic-run city of El Paso, Texas, and Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis later transported illegal migrants to New York City.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered more than 2.3 million migrants at the southern border in fiscal year 2022. Fiscal year 2023 has already surpassed 800,000 migrant encounters.

Adams emphasized that he’s working to get support from outside cities and localities to urge the Biden administration to take action to address the crisis.