TRENTON, NJ – New Jersey Senator Michael Testa and Assemblymen Antwan L. McClellan and Erik K. Simonsen issued strong criticisms of President Biden’s proposal to relocate thousands of undocumented immigrants currently in New York City to Atlantic City International Airport.
Sen. Testa stated, “New Jersey should not be cleaning up Biden’s humanitarian crisis,” adding that the issues arising from sanctuary city policies in New York are a direct result of President Biden’s “dereliction of duty” in failing to secure the southern U.S. border.
The statement comes after a Bloomberg article reported that the Biden administration is exploring 11 federally owned locations to transfer approximately 60,000 undocumented immigrants in order to alleviate the current situation in New York’s sanctuary city. Atlantic City, New Jersey, is among the sites under consideration.
Asm. McClellan called the proposal a “national security nightmare and a huge public safety concern” for South Jersey, while Asm. Simonsen criticized the Biden administration for its “failure to address border security.”
Democrats in New York have reportedly been calling on President Biden to offer more federal resources, with New York Governor Kathy Hochul rejecting the administration’s proposal to move the migrants.
All three New Jersey lawmakers are urging Governor Phil Murphy to reject the federal proposal and protect the interests of Atlantic City and South Jersey