Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) went after Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) for prioritizing illegal immigrants over taxpayers by setting aside $2.4 billion to manage the state’s immigrant crisis.
On Tuesday, Hochul announced the state would spend the money as part of her $233 billion budget proposal to pay for immigrant housing and medical and legal bills.
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“Kathy Hochul’s bloated budget adds $500 million to address New York’s raging illegal immigration crisis, a direct result of the Far Left’s failed open border and sanctuary city policies, which have rolled out the red carpet for illegal immigrants,” Stefanik told Fox News.
Hochul said she wants to focus on managing the influx of immigrants by providing them with work permits and sheltering them, which the city has recently done by canceling classes to house immigrants in local schools.
“We also know that companies won’t do business in New York if there are thousands of people sleeping on the streets, where the quality of life is dramatically impacted, because the city is forced to cut essential services,” Hochul said when announcing the budget proposal.
While Hochul pointed the finger at the federal government for creating New York’s immigration burden, Stefanik disagreed, and she said the problem is “the Far Left’s creation,” Fox News reported.
“While New Yorkers continue their mass exodus from New York City, Kathy Hochul’s solution is to ram through a $2.4 billion budget for FY2025 to accommodate a crisis of the Far Left’s creation, exposing New York Democrat leadership’s true priorities, putting illegal immigrants first and taxpaying New Yorkers last,” she told the outlet.
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After calling New York a “sanctuary state,” Hochul will make her way to Washington on Friday to negotiate a deal with Congress regarding the border and immigration problem in New York, according to Fox News.
“But until we see a change in federal policy that slows the flow of new arrivals, we’re going to be swimming against the tide,” Hochul said.