NJ Could House NYC Migrants, Biden Officials Suggest: Report

NEW JERSEY — The Department of Homeland Security listed a New Jersey airport as one of 11 sites to house some of the 60,000 recently-arrived migrants seeking asylum in the United States, according to a report.

Atlantic City International Airport is on a list of 11 federally-owned sites that Biden administration officials suggested to New York City's mayor this week as places to house the increasing number of people arriving in the city, according to Bloomberg.

Mayor Eric Adams, who says the five boroughs have “run out of room” for incoming people, has publicly criticized President Joe Biden's laissez-faire attitude in his city when it comes to the cost and logistics of caring for the people who arrive on America's shores.

Most of the other suggested sites are also out of the city, Bloomberg reported, including an airport in remote St. Lawrence County, near New York’s border with Canada. The airport in Atlantic City appears to be the only New Jersey location on the list, per Bloomberg.

Patch has reached out to Gov. Phil Murphy’s office for comment.

NYC officials have been asking the state for a “decompression” strategy, and looking for other locations within the Empire State to house new arrivals, as The City reported.

In an address last week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul closed the door on that request, telling upstate residents that large-scale shelters will not open in their towns.

“We cannot and will not force other parts of our state to shelter migrants,” Hochul said. “Nor are we going to be asking these migrants to move to other parts of the state against their will.”

Mayor Adams has been sparring with Hochul, a fellow Democrat, over the issue.

"We don't have an option. New York City has run out of room," Adams told CBS New York last week. "We are going to use any space that's available to take the pressure off of New York City residents."