(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) In a startling display of political discord, Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., took a jab at her own party by issuing a damning letter on Tuesday, pointing fingers at New York City Democrats for their alleged failures in handling the surge of illegal immigrants.
The 12-page letter, written by attorney Faith E. Gay on behalf of Hochul, lashed out at New York City Democrat Mayor Eric Adams for allegedly declining the state’s assistance in addressing the mounting immigrant chaos, which has seen almost 100,000 asylum seekers flood the city.
“The State has identified numerous additional State-owned properties and non-State owned sites that are viable options for sheltering immigrants, but the City has not accepted these offers,” the letter, first obtained by the New York Times, read.
The attorney alleged that these sites, identified as early as October 2022, could have housed over 3,000 immigrants. Hochul expressed her willingness to collaborate with the city on these options, but accused Adams of not taking timely action.
In the letter, the attorney also accused the city government of withholding information from the state officials.
She added, “The city has not made timely requests for regulatory changes, has not always promptly shared necessary information with the state, has not implemented programs in a timely manner, and has not consulted the state before taking certain actions.”
This internal strife within the Democrat Party intensified when Adams, who initially welcomed illegal immigrants into the city, suddenly reversed his stance last week by urging President Joe Biden to address the border crisis.
Notably, the Biden administration declined a request from New York officials to turn a military site into a shelter for illegal immigrants.
“Getting the federal government to change its position and tell an agency, the Department of the Interior, that they now have to accept migrants has been a complicated journey,” Hochul told reporters, during a celebration of the the Dominican Day parade in Manhattan.
The chaos in New York City was initially ignited by Gov. Greg Abbott, who has driven illegal aliens to so-called sanctuary cities, in an effort to call attention to the crisis facing border states.
Adams predicted that accommodating illegal immigrants could cost New York City taxpayers a staggering $12 billion by the summer of 2025 if current influx rates are maintained.
