Hochul adds 150 National Guards members to assist with ongoing migrant crisis

ALBANY, NY (WBNG) -- Governor Kathy Hochul deployed 150 members of the New York National Guard to New York City in response to the ongoing migrant crisis. She made the announcement on Monday.

Hochul’s office said, that because of this deployment, the state will now be able to assign 250 National Guard personnel the responsibilities of case management professionals. Governor Hochul said, the deployment in combination with $50 million invested in case management so far, should help asylum seekers attain legal work status and exit taxpayer-funded shelters.

“It is critical that we help secure work authorization for asylum seekers and migrants in New York,” Hochul said. “We need to ensure individuals can navigate the paperwork necessary to get them established here so they can work and start making their American Dream a reality. Our National Guard members play a huge role in assisting in the process and we are grateful for their service.”

Already, 1,900 National Guard members were providing support to migrants at 51 hotels across the statewide and two Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers. The 150 National Guard members recently deployed add to that preexisting number of guards who are stationed.

Hochul’s directive comes just one week after Representative Marc Molinaro (R, NY-19) and Republican members of the state legislature called for a special session of the legislature on the ongoing migrant crisis. In his news conference, the congressman also called for New York to cease being a Sanctuary State, which is a place that is not subject to enforce federal immigration laws.