Hochul calls on Biden for help with asylum seekers in New York State

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — New York Governor Kathy Hochul is calling on the president for help, as more asylum seekers enter New York State.

In Monroe County, nearly a hundred are staying at the Holiday Inn on State Street.

Hochul wrote a letter to President Biden Thursday afternoon, pleading for help with the situation. She’s asking he take executive action to address what she’s calling a crisis in New York State right now.

Hochul is calling for four things: Expedited work authorizations so people can get out of shelters and into jobs, financial support for federal housing vouchers, schools, legal services, and health care, more federal facilities to construct temporary shelters, and reimbursement for the cost of National Guard members.

On Wednesday, News10NBC told you Monroe County took in 40 new asylum seekers — that group includes 22 children. It’s made up of families from Ecuador, Venezuela and Uzbekistan, a former soviet republic in Asia. Hochul says many people are asking the question: Why are they coming here, and why New York?

“These individuals are literally fleeing for their lives, political violence, gang violence, extreme poverty, and persecution. They’re coming with the same goal my once impoverished grandparents did: Just to build a better life for themselves and their families,” says Hochul.

Twenty-two members of the National Guard are still monitoring things at the Holiday Inn. There’s no end date for their deployment.

Hochul says the State is incurring costs of over $22 million per month to support nearly 2,000 members in the City and other counties.

Now it’s worth pointing out, that 18 children are registered within the Rochester City School District. For many, there’s a language barrier. So they’ll be attending the International Academy.