Several Republican members of Congress from New York have sent a letter to President Joe Biden to demand answers on illegal immigrants who have been shipped across the country by the administration, including upstate New York, and slamming the “secrecy” of the migrant transfers.
“We write following reports that your administration is actively settling migrants in Upstate New York communities,” five New York Republicans wrote to the White House on Thursday adding that they have “deep concern” that the influx of migrants into upstate and western New York will “overwhelm the local services and infrastructure.”
The letter was signed by New York Republican Reps. Claudia Tenney, Elise Stefanik, Michael Lawler, Nick Langworthy and Marc Molinaro.
“Joe Biden’s failure to enforce the law at the border has made every state a border state,” Stefanik told Fox News Digital on Thursday. “Instead of securing the border, President Biden is shifting the burden of the influx of illegal migrants onto New York communities. Upstate New York should not be punished for Biden’s border crisis.”
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President Joe Biden
(Reuters / Jonathan Ernst / File)
In the letter, the New York Republicans cited a previous letter in January 2022 in which they asked the White House to stop sending migrants across the country, which went ignored by the administration that has continued to fly migrants to various locations, including New York.
“Yet, your administration to this day, continues to transport these migrants without providing any transparency to the American people,” the letter says. “We urge you to stop this obstinance and immediately halt your administration’s moving of illegal migrants to our state.”
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Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.
(Washington Post via Getty Images / File)
“In addition,” the letter adds, “we wish to express our outrage at the secrecy with which your administration has and continues to carry out these national relocation operations.”
The letter comes after New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency last year due to the influx of an estimated 41,000 migrants from the southern border into the city.
Last week, Adams told reporters that there is “no more room” for migrants in the city and that “we’ve done our job” but “now it’s time for the national government to do its job.”
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Migrants cross the southern border in El Paso, Texas.
(Fox News Digital / Jon Michael Raasch / File)
Additionally, migrants have been showing up in small towns across the state, including the city of Jamestown, New York, where residents recently raised concerns to the New York Post about the town’s resources being overwhelmed.
In an effort to deliver “transparency” to the American public on the issue, the New York Republicans pressed the Biden administration in the letter to provide answers by Jan. 31 on the number of migrants relocated to New York over the past two years, what towns they were sent to and where they will be sent to in the future, and the process by which local agencies have been notified and reimbursed.
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If the questions are not answered, the Republicans suggested that federal funding could be withheld by the House.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.