Governor Kathy Hochul Says a Government Shutdown Could Stall Migrants Work Permit Progress

Governor Kathy Hochul says the looming federal government shutdown may slow progress on a new program aimed at easing the state’s migrant crisis.

Hochul says her administration has been working with the Biden Administration on implementing a program granting Temporary Protected Status to thousands of  Venezuelan  migrants, so that they can begin applying for jobs.

The governor says a Tuesday cabinet meeting included the President’s top advisor, Tom Perez, who outlined the timetable for starting the process, which could lead to the granting of temporary work permits in as little as 30 days, instead of the six month waiting period for most asylum seekers.

Hochul says before the Venezuelans can be granted TPS status, the change in the regulations first need to be published in a federal register.

“Those who were expecting to start the next day, will be  a  little disappointed,” Hochul said.

But she says the bigger potential obstacle is the possible federal government shutdown, which will occur on Sunday if there’s no agreement in Congress on a new spending plan. Hochul says while the Department of Homeland Security, which administers border control, is considered essential and would not be shuttered, there are a few dozen federal workers who have been sent to New York by the Biden Administration to help implement the TPS program.

“We literally just opened yesterday, in a state paid for facility, 50 or 60 federal workers who have come to help us with the asylum processing and identification and getting new work authorization,” the governor said.

She says it’s unclear whether those workers would have to be sent home. She says they also might need to contact staff at the federal Department of Labor to obtain the work permits, and those offices could be closed as well.

Hochul says a shutdown would also furlough around 51,000 federal workers in the state, and delay food programs for poor women and children. She says it could also negatively affect one of New York’s biggest industries, the financial sector, and cause a stock market decline.

The governor, a democrat, took a shot at Republicans who control the US House of Representatives, saying she blames them for the budget stalemate.

“Republicans in Washington are reckless. Their words have an impact,” the governor said. “It's not positive news when the markets and the rest of the world, and investors and everyday people hear that they have individuals representing our nation in Washington, who are willing to bring us to the brink once again. And literally jump off the cliff.”

Hochul says she and her staff are monitoring the situation closely.