Gov. Kathy Hochul is deploying 150 more National Guard troops to the city to assist with handling the migrant crisis. Monday, Sept. 25, 2023.
Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced she’s deploying another 150 National Guard troops to New York City to aid with the tide of migrants continuing to overwhelm the Adams administration, while defending her office’s efforts to handle the influx.
The additional troops, Hochul said, will bring the total number of National Guard members assisting the city with its migrant response to 2,200. Along with the latest deployment of National Guard personnel, Hochul is directing 250 of those troops to solely assist with casework for newcomers — helping them complete the necessary paperwork to attain legal work status and move out of city shelters.
Their work will include helping Venezuelan migrants apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which President Biden extended and re-designated for nearly 500,000 Venezuelans already in the United States last week.
“So, you’ll be helping them get a job, helping them support themselves, helping them leave these shelters, because I believe they did not come all these thousands of miles to live in a shelter with hundreds, if not thousands, of others,” Hochul told National Guard troops during a news conference at the 369th Regiment Armory in Harlem Monday afternoon.
Part of the effort, Hochul said, is to identify which migrants are already eligible for work authorization based on the way they came into the country.
Prior to the newest deployment, the troops mainly served to provide logistical and operational support at city shelters, according to the governor’s office.
State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Jackie Bray said the state is trying to both stem the flow of migrants into city shelters and speed up the rate of those exiting the facilities. While the additional National Guard troops are…
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