Attorney General James Co-Leads Multistate Coalition Calling for Increased Transparency of Nursing Home Ownership

 

Attorneys General Call for Required Disclosure of Nursing Home Ownership and Management to Address Growth of Private Equity and Real Estate Firms in Industry

Letter Follows AG James’ Recent Actions to Hold Owners of Nursing Homes Accountable for Failing to Invest in Adequate Care and Putting Residents at Risk

New York Attorney General Letitia James co-led a coalition of 18 attorneys general and the Inspector General of the District of Columbia in support of a proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that would require the disclosure of certain ownership, managerial, and other information regarding nursing facilities, particularly from private equity investors and real estate investment trusts. This letter follows Attorney General James’ recent actions to address problems in nursing homes and protect vulnerable New Yorkers.

The letter supports a proposal by CMS to require nursing facilities and their owners to disclose the true decision makers exercising control over nursing facilities’ operations. The coalition contends that such disclosure would improve the ability of attorneys general and their Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCUs) to hold bad actors accountable for providing substandard care in nursing facilities. 

“We trust nursing homes to protect our state’s most vulnerable communities and to provide them with the quality care they deserve,” said Attorney General James. “Transparency and accountability with regard to who is managing these facilities and the services they provide are vital to our ability to protect residents. The health and safety of New Yorkers remains our top priority, and as part of our ongoing efforts to monitor nursing homes to keep people safe, we will continue to take every measure to hold those who cause harm accountable.”

Attorneys general are charged with protecting the safety and well-being of residents of nursing facilities. Their offices, through MFCUs or other units, have authority to investigate and prosecute those responsible for committing abuse or neglect of residents and misappropriation of residents’ funds in these facilities. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath exposed, many nursing facilities continue to deliver substandard care to their residents. More than 200,000 nursing facility residents and staff died due to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, accounting for at least 23 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. Recent analyses have found that, for every two victims of COVID-19 in nursing facilities, there was another resident who died prematurely of other causes. The coalition of attorneys general assert that these tragic outcomes are too often reflective of facilities that are chronically understaffed resulting in the failure to provide basic support to residents, including hygiene, wound care, feeding, and hydration. 

In their letter, the attorneys general note that the quality of care delivered by nursing facilities operated on a for-profit basis, particularly when those for-profit owners and/or operators include private equity investors, is often worse than at non-profit nursing facilities. A recent study found that nursing facilities with private equity ownership had increases of short-term mortality by 10 percent; this study also found worsening mobility of residents, declines in nurse availability per resident, and elevated use of antipsychotic medications in nursing facilities owned by private equity. 

The attorneys general’s letter further emphasizes that corporate owners and operators, including but not limited to private equity investors and real estate investment trusts, continue to structure acquisitions of nursing facilities to avoid disclosing to CMS the extent of their ownership or involvement in the facilities’ operations. This lack of transparency hampers and delays law enforcement efforts from identifying the true decision makers at nursing facilities — who may be responsible for the root causes of substandard care.

This action is the latest in Attorney General James’ efforts to protect nursing home residents throughout the state. In February, Attorney General James secured more than $7.1 million from the Saratoga Center for Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Care, a former nursing home in Ballston Spa, and its owners and operators for years of fraud and resident neglect. In November and December 2022, Attorney General James filed special proceedings against three nursing facilities and their owners due to findings of repeated and persistent fraud and illegality, including resident neglect, illegal conversion of government funds, and false and misleading representations to the New York State Department of Health. These facilities included: The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center in Orleans County, Fulton Commons Care Center in Nassau County, and Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Nassau County. In January 2021, Attorney General James released a report revealing that many nursing homes were ill-equipped and ill-prepared to deal with the pandemic crisis because of poor staffing levels, which resulted in a lack of compliance with infection control protocols and increased risk to residents. 

Former Private School Teacher And Private Tutor Sentenced To 25 Years For His Enticement Of A Minor And Possession Of Child Pornography

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced  that JOHN MUESER was sentenced to 25 years in prison by United States District Judge Vincent Briccetti for his enticement of a seven-year-old minor to engage in sexual activity and his possession of child pornography.  The sentencing followed MUESER’s guilty plea on January 10, 2023.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “To the world, John Mueser presented himself as a dedicated teacher.  But in reality, Mueser exploited the trust placed in him as an educator in order to gain access to the victim’s home and to carry out his sickening abuse.  As today’s sentencing underscores, we will continue to use every tool available to law enforcement to prosecute and punish those who exploit children.”

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in related court proceedings:

On May 1, 2019, JOHN MUESER, a private school teacher and a private tutor at the time, induced a 7-year-old minor (“Victim-1”), whom he was tutoring, to engage in sexually explicit conduct and used his iPhone to record the activity.   

MUESER’s iPhone was found to contain hundreds of images, many of which were sexually explicit, of Victim-1. 

In addition to the numerous images of Victim-1 found on MUESER’s phone, MUESER’s phone was also found to contain numerous sexually explicit images and videos of other prepubescent children.

Years before his abuse of Victim-1, MUESER sexually abused two other children.  With respect to both of those victims, the abuse continued for years. 

In imposing the sentence, Judge Briccetti underscored that the defendant’s criminal conduct was “truly reprehensible,” asking “Is there anything more evil than sexually abusing small children for your own sexual gratification?”  Judge Briccetti recognized that the defendant’s “abuse of these children spanned decades.”  He said that the sentence he imposed “might amount to a life sentence,” and “that does not trouble me at all.”

In addition to the prison sentence, MUESER, 72, of Tuckahoe, New York, was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release.            

Mr. Williams praised the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Greenwich Police Department in connection with this investigation.                 

MAYOR ADAMS TO INVEST UP TO $10 MILLION TO REPAIR RENT-STABILIZED HOMES, PROVIDING ROOFS OVER HEADS OF NEW YORKERS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS

 

‘Unlocking Doors’ Pilot Program Will Connect 400 Households With Vouchers to Newly Renovated, Rent-Stabilized Apartments

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced “Unlocking Doors,” a new program that will invest up to $10 million to renovate distressed rent-stabilized homes and then connect New Yorkers experiencing homelessness with access to those homes. Through this pilot, the city will provide up to $25,000 for needed repairs at each of 400 rent-stabilized homes that are currently vacant and unavailable for rent. The city will then match the rehabilitated apartments with households with City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) vouchers for use.

 

“Our administration is ‘unlocking doors’ and giving New Yorkers the key not just to a new home, but also to a brighter, safer, more prosperous future,” said Mayor Adams. “Since we released ‘Housing Our Neighbors’ last year, getting New Yorkers into safe, high-quality, affordable homes has been this administration’s north star. And with this innovative program, we are doing exactly that while tackling two major challenges at the same time — adding much-needed, affordable housing supply to the market and connecting some of the lowest-income New Yorkers living in shelters with high-quality, permanent housing.”

 

“‘Unlocking Doors’ demonstrates this administration’s commitment to housing New Yorkers experiencing homelessness,” said Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz. “This program improves the quality of our housing stock, while providing incentives to property owners to make vacant units available for the lowest-income New Yorkers. In doing this work, we continue to meet goals of this administration’s housing and homelessness blueprint.”

 

“In the midst of this housing crisis, we need to unlock every opportunity to create safe, quality, affordable housing,” said New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. “Through ‘Unlocking Doors,’ we’re getting urgently needed rent-stabilized apartments fixed up and ready for move-in for those who need it most desperately, so we can provide life-changing stability and security for 400 households experiencing homelessness.”

 

“We are thrilled to see the city introducing new and innovative programs to directly address the shortage of safe and affordable housing for New York City’s most vulnerable residents,” said New York City Department of Social Services Acting Commissioner Molly Wasow Park. “The ‘Unlocking Doors’ pilot program will ensure the city is effectively utilizing its stock of rent-stabilized apartments and CityFHEPS vouchers to promote housing stability and reduce homelessness. We look forward to working closely with all our partners to make sure that vulnerable New Yorkers have access to the supports and housing they deserve.”

 

As the city faces a severe housing shortage, “Unlocking Doors” builds on key initiatives in Mayor Adams’ “Housing Our Neighbors” blueprint by focusing on identifying creative ways to add new housing supply in New York City. The dearth of available apartments is particularly acute in the most affordable housing, with less than one-percent of apartments with asking rents below $1,500 available.

 

Through this pilot, which will begin accepting applications this summer, the city will focus on the small number of rent-stabilized apartments that have been chronically vacant and need significant repairs to become safe and habitable. The program will incentivize property owners with very low-rent apartments to make repairs, ensure the apartment is safe to occupy, and then rent it to a New Yorker experiencing homelessness with a CityFHEPS voucher. New Yorkers moving into the renovated units will receive a two-year lease at the existing rent-stabilized monthly rent. They will then be able to use their CityFHEPS voucher to pay a maximum of one-third of their income for rent, and the city will cover the remaining balance.

 

Owners applying to join the pilot will need to demonstrate that their apartment is chronically vacant and has been registered with New York State Homes and Community Renewal (NYS HCR) as continuously vacant, that the rent for the apartment does not exceed program-specific rent thresholds, and that they will sign a rent-stabilized lease with a CityFHEPS voucher holder. While exact eligibility criteria, including affordability levels, will be determined through rulemaking, this pilot will prioritize units at the lowest stabilized rents, or around $1,200 per month for a one-bedroom apartment. Once repairs are complete, HPD will confirm that the building and apartment meet CityFHEPS housing quality standards, and the New York City Human Resources Administration will reimburse owners for qualifying repair expenses up to $25,000 per unit after an eligible New Yorker with a CityFHEPS voucher moves in.

 

The Adams administration continues to support efforts in Albany to create a modernized J-51 program that would keep existing affordable homes from falling into disrepair. The program, which expired last year, provides a tax exemption or abatement to property owners to renovate existing apartment buildings and make or keep the units affordable. The administration also supports measures to ensure property owners are registering vacant rent-stabilized units with NYS HCR, including increased penalties for those that fail to comply. Registering vacant units is essential for determining if other interventions are needed to prevent affordable housing being held off the market.

 

“CityFHEPS vouchers are one of the most effective tools we have to help families move out of shelter and remain in permanent housing, but they only work when there are enough affordable apartments for New Yorkers to rent,” said Christine C. Quinn, president and CEO, Win. “This is exactly the kind of innovative public-private partnership we need to get affordable apartments back online and ensure homeless families have direct access to them — and it will change hundreds of New Yorkers’ lives. I look forward to continuing to work with the Adams administration to make CityFHEPS vouchers as effective and impactful as possible.”

 

“Confronting the city’s housing crisis will require a comprehensive toolkit that includes policies to both increase production and address the needs of vulnerable renters,” said James Whelan, president, Real Estate Board of New York. “We applaud Mayor Adams and his administration for putting forth creative solutions that seek to address the need for renovating and maintaining much-needed housing stock for voucher holders.”

Construction Company President Pleads Guilty To 25-Year Fraud On The U.S. Government And To Bribery Of A Public Official

 

Sina Moayedi, the Owner of Montage, Inc., Fraudulently Induced U.S. Government Agencies to Pay his Company Millions of Dollars and Also Paid Bribes to a Government Insider

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that SINA MOAYEDI, the owner of a construction company, Montage, Inc., pled guilty today to a 25-year fraud on the United States Government.  MOAYEDI pled guilty to three counts: conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official, and aggravated identity theft.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, MOAYEDI also admitted to obstructing justice by, among other things, deleting electronic evidence of his fraud shortly after his release on bail in this case, which resulted in his pretrial detention.  MOAYEDI pled guilty before United States District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, to whom MOAYEDI’s case is assigned.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “From 1995 until 2021, Sina Moayedi defrauded the U.S. Government and various of its agencies by lying in various respects.  Moayedi lied that his construction company was woman-owned; he lied about his employees’ qualifications; he lied about his company’s construction experience; and he lied about his company’s financial condition.  He also repeatedly paid bribes to a State Department employee to illegally obtain inside information to help Moayedi’s company win government contracts.  His frauds netted his company at least 27 lucrative government construction contracts, including contracts to build sensitive U.S. embassies and consulates.  And following his arrest in this case, Moayedi obstructed justice by destroying electronic evidence of his frauds less than one month after his release on bail.  Moayedi now faces the consequences of his quarter-century fraud on the federal government, which harmed the government, taxpayers, and his competitors.”

According to the filings and statements made in Manhattan federal court:

In the 1980s, MOAYEDI founded Montage, Inc. (“Montage”), a U.S.-based business that is primarily involved in worldwide Government construction projects, including embassies, military posts, consulates, and similar overseas properties owned and operated by the United States Government.  In total, the U.S. Government has paid Montage more than $200 million on government contracts.  Since 2014, Montage appears to have focused primarily on competing for and obtaining contracts with the State Department.  During that period, the State Department awarded Montage approximately six overseas U.S. Embassy/Consulate construction project contracts totaling $100 million.

MOAYEDI defrauded the U.S. Government — including the State Department, Treasury Department, Department of Defense, and General Services Administration — by lying in various respects.  In submissions to the Government (i.e., bids for contracting work), MOAYEDI mispresented his company’s ownership, his employees’ qualifications, his company’s construction experience, and his company’s financial condition. 

As to ownership, MOAYEDI falsely represented, repeatedly, that Montage was a female-owned business (or a female- and minority-owned business) in order to secure unmerited advantages in the bidding process.  In fact, MOAYEDI founded, owned, ran, and controlled Montage, and he made all material decisions on Montage’s behalf.  As MOAYEDI revealed to a bank that inquired about Montage’s ownership status in 2016, “I am the sole owner and president of Montage and have always been.” 

As to employees’ qualifications, MOAYEDI significantly overstated the qualifications of various Montage employees in order to, among other things, meet State Department and contractual requirements for minimum experience in certain key positions.  For instance, MOAYEDI claimed, falsely, that certain Montage employees possessed engineering degrees, and he claimed, falsely, that certain individuals worked for Montage when, in fact, they did not.

As to Montage’s construction experience, MOAYEDI submitted bids to the Government in which he repeatedly falsified Montage’s purported construction experience in order to burnish its alleged credentials.  To ensure that the U.S. Government did not uncover these lies, MOAYEDI “backstopped” these fabricated prior projects by creating fraudulent email accounts and personas, so that someone else appeared to be “vouching” that Montage had performed this prior work.  This required creating online web domains (the “Fabricated Domains”), so that Montage’s purported references appeared legitimate.  These Fabricated Domains were extremely similar to, but one character or word different from, the legitimate web domain associated with the actual entity.  MOAYEDI purchased the necessary online infrastructure to create these Fabricated Domains.

As to financial condition, MOAYEDI paid a Certified Public Accountant to prepare at least four different sets of books and records, each of which was provided to a different recipient (e.g., one fraudulent set for the U.S. Government, another fraudulent set for the bank, another fraudulent set for a company that sold construction bonds, etc.).

In furtherance of his fraud on the U.S. Government, MOAYEDI also used the identities of at least 10 individuals, including some of his relatives.

In addition, between 2014 and 2020, MOAYEDI repeatedly paid cash bribes and kickbacks to an engineer in the State Department’s Overseas Building Operations division, May Salehi, in exchange for confidential inside information relating to several State Department construction projects, including projects in Ecuador, Spain, and Bermuda.  For instance, in late 2016 and early 2017, MOAYEDI paid approximately $60,000 in cash to Salehi after Salehi provided confidential inside bidding information to MOAYEDI about the relationship between Montage’s original bid and his competitors’ bids — information that allowed Montage to raise its bid by nearly $1 million yet remain the lowest bidder on a construction project that was ultimately awarded to Montage.

MOAYEDI also defrauded his primary bank (“Bank-1”) through various misrepresentations.  MOAYEDI and Montage had a multi-million-dollar line of credit at Bank-1, which they maintained through misrepresentations about Montage’s ownership and the value, progress, status, and existence of construction projects that Montage was performing for the United States Government.  For instance, in or about both 2014 and 2019, MOAYEDI made material misrepresentations to Bank-1 in support of an annual extension of Montage’s line of credit, including misrepresentations about purportedly lucrative “classified” government construction projects which, in fact, did not exist.

MOAYEDI also obstructed justice in multiple respects.  These include: (i) in September 2021, shortly after his release on bail in this case, MOAYEDI destroyed electronic evidence of his fraud on the U.S. Government by deleting at least seven Fabricated Domains, which (as noted) he had used to help inflate Montage’s purported construction experience in bids for U.S. Government construction projects; (ii) shortly after the execution of search warrants at Montage’s offices in September 2020, MOAYEDI attempted to witness tamper by, among other things, pressuring a co-conspirator to lie in order to impede the Government’s ongoing criminal investigation; and (iii) during a civil lawsuit between the State Department and Montage, MOAYEDI lied during a sworn deposition in 2019 by claiming to be the Vice President of Montage and by falsely claiming that a Hispanic woman had been the President of Montage “ever since” 2002.

MOAYEDI, 67, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, pled guilty to three counts: one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory prison term of two years, which must run consecutively to any other prison term.  

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as MOAYEDI’s sentence will be determined by Judge Rakoff. 

MOAYEDI is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Rakoff on August 10, 2023, at 4:00 p.m.  Under the terms of his plea agreement, MOAYEDI also agreed to pay restitution of $6,588,679.63 and forfeiture of $17,795,098.50.

May Salehi was previously sentenced to one year in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of $500,000, and forfeiture of $60,000.

Mr. Williams praised the exceptional investigative work of the State Department, Office of Inspector General; Special Agents from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York; and the Internal Revenue Service. 

Governor Hochul Announces Drug-Impaired Driving Prevention and Enforcement Campaign for 4/20

 

Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee Trains Officers to Identify Impairment Related to Drugs and Alcohol

 Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that New York State police and local law enforcement will be stepping up patrols and targeting drug-impaired driving during an enforcement and prevention campaign on April 20.

"Drug-impaired driving is a reckless, dangerous choice that puts everyone on our roadways at risk," Governor Hochul said. “To avoid the deadly consequences, do not get behind the wheel and always make sure to have a travel plan to get home safely.”

The State Police, Department of Motor Vehicles and the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee remind motorists that driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, including cannabis, is not only dangerous, it is illegal in New York State.

The Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) administers the Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) training program, which trains officers to recognize impairment and drivers under the influence of drugs. The GTSC held six DRE trainings in 2022, adding 99 additional DRE officers, bringing the total to 432 statewide, including 134 State Troopers. GTSC’s goal is to raise the total number of trained officers statewide to 550 by the end of 2023.

Additionally, every State Trooper is required to attend Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) training, which is not as extensive as DRE training, but provides members of law enforcement with additional skills to observe, identify and articulate the signs of impairment related to drugs and alcohol. Statewide, 749 police officers have completed the ARIDE training. Both advanced training courses are offered by the GTSC.

New York State Police Acting Superintendent Steven A. Nigrelli said, “Drug-impaired driving causes thousands of injuries and deaths each year. Unfortunately, few people recognize the dangers of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs. Even if you feel fine, do not get behind the wheel. The New York State Police reminds all motorists that although adult recreational use of cannabis is legal, it is still illegal to drive while impaired.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) offers these safety tips and reminds drivers of the dangers of driving impaired from alcohol or cannabis use:

• If you’re planning to consume cannabis, do not drive. Designate a sober driver who won’t be consuming or use public transportation or a ride-sharing service. Someone who’s high shouldn’t be making decisions about driving; that’s why planning is key.
• According to NHTSA, between 2009 and 2018, of those drivers killed in crashes and tested, the presence of cannabis had nearly doubled.
• In 2018, 46 percent of drivers who were killed in crashes and were tested for drugs, tested positive.
• It doesn’t matter what term you use: If a person is feeling a little high, buzzed, stoned, wasted, or drunk, he or she is impaired and should never get behind the wheel.
• In every U.S. state and territory, it is illegal to drive under the influence of drugs — no exceptions.
• Whether the drug is legal or not, drug-impaired driving poses a threat to the driver, passengers, and other road users.
• If you think driving high won’t affect you, you are wrong: It has been shown that cannabis can slow reaction times, impair cognitive performance, and make it more difficult for drivers to keep a steady position in their lane.
• Your best defense against impaired drivers on the road is your seat belt. Wear it on every trip, and make sure your passengers do, too.

The Cost of Impaired Driving

• An impaired driving charge could set you back $10,000 in attorney’s fees, fines, court costs, lost time at work, higher insurance rates, towing fees, and more.
• If you’re caught driving under the influence of any impairing substance, you can face jail time.
• Drug-impaired driving could cause you to lose your driver’s license and your vehicle. This could stop you from getting to work, resulting in lost wages and, potentially, job loss.

Have a Safe Travel Plan

• If you have ingested an impairing substance such as cannabis, do not drive. Passengers should never ride with an impaired driver. If you think a driver may be impaired, do not get in the car.
• If you are drug-impaired, pass the keys to a sober driver who can safely drive you to your destination. Like drunk driving, it is essential that drug-impaired drivers refrain from driving a vehicle. It is never okay to drive while impaired by any substance.
• Do you have a friend who is about to drive while impaired by drugs? Take the keys away and arrange to get them home safely. Don’t worry about offending someone — they’ll thank you later.

NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE RESPONDS TO THE CITY'S $53 MILLION SOLITARY CONFINEMENT SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

 

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams issued the below statement in response to the reported $53 million settlement agreement for people held in solitary confinement in New York City filed in federal court today.

"Today’s settlement agreement shows that no matter what officials argue to the contrary, no matter what words they use to disguise the reality, solitary confinement has been and is still happening in New York City. The city can’t continue to hide this practice under new names – we need to pass my bill to finally ban solitary, the practice that the United Nations has designated as torture, and put in place further due process. Hopefully, the findings in this case prevent future disingenuous disagreements about the semantics of solitary confinement and the false assertions that it does not occur. 

"Though New Yorkers who have been subject to solitary without due process won a legal victory today, money does not undo the damage. True justice means ensuring no one else suffers that harm in our city again. This ruling shows the financial cost of this continued abuse, and it is nothing compared to the human cost incurred by continuing to put forth defenses of an indefensible status quo that harms people on both sides of the bars."

MAYOR ADAMS URGES BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO PROVIDE EXPEDITED, EMERGENCY PATHS TO WORK AUTHORIZATION FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS AHEAD OF TITLE 42 LIFTING

 

With Over 34,000 Asylum Seekers Still Currently in City’s Care and No Hope for Support from Republicans in Congress, Mayor Adams Calls on White House to Expand Temporary Protective Status and Humanitarian Parole to Help Asylum Seekers Obtain Work Authorization

 

As Cost of Crisis Continues to Rise, Budget Director Lays Out Estimated Costs

As Republican leaders in Congress continue to refuse to provide any support for cities or states that have seen a mass influx of asylum seekers, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, members of the Adams administration, and elected officials today urged the Biden administration to immediately enhance paths to work authorization for asylum seekers currently in the U.S. and those who continue to arrive every day. It has been approximately one year since asylum seekers first started to be bussed to the five boroughs, and New York City still continues to receive approximately 200 asylum seekers each day — a number that’s only expected to grow following the lifting of Title 42 on May 11, 2023.

 

Mayor Adams is calling on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to re-designate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for migrants coming from Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Sudan, South Sudan, and Cameroon, to expand access to humanitarian parole for newly arriving asylum seekers and asylum seekers already in the United States, and to increase the number of and reassign existing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers to reduce application processing times. All of these actions can immediately be taken by the executive branch of the federal government and without legislation being passed by Republican leaders in Congress who refuse to offer any support for the ongoing crisis.

 

“As a city, we have done everything in our power to provide support to the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have arrived at our doorstep,” said Mayor Adams. “While New York City has shouldered the costs of this crisis largely alone, we have always said that this is a national crisis that requires a coordinated, comprehensive response from the federal government. To deny people the ability to work legally sets them up for failure. The actions we’re urging our federal partners to do, all of which can be done without support from the Republican leaders in Congress who refuse to do their jobs, will ensure that asylum seekers in New York City, and across the country, can do what they came here to do — work lawfully and build stable lives.”

 

“For almost a year, asylum seekers have arrived in New York City to escape hardship and start their lives,” said First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright. “However, until they have an opportunity for safe, legal work, they will continue to be at a standstill. This administration is urging our federal partners to act now and make sure asylum seekers have a fair shot at success in our country, starting with providing a path to work authorization.”

 

“The message from the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have arrived to New York City has been clear — we want to work,” said Chief of Staff Camille Joseph Varlack. “Asylum seekers want to contribute to New York City and the country, but until the federal government grants them the opportunity for legal work, they’ll be denied that opportunity. We are urging our federal partners to do what’s right and create a path forward for asylum seekers to safely enter our economy and start their American Dream.”

 

“For nearly a year, tens of thousands of people have come to New York City seeking asylum,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom. “We have stepped up, providing shelter, medical care, and educational support for children. However, this all comes with a cost that must be shared with our federal partners. We come together once more to call upon our federal partners to provide an efficient pathway to work for people seeking asylum that can and want to contribute to our local economy.”   

 

“While our administration has been leading the charge to respond to this humanitarian crisis, we need the federal government to support a nationwide strategy,” said Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Manuel Castro. “Thousands of recently arrived New Yorkers, unable to return to their home countries due to dangerous and unsafe circumstances, can be protected through TPS and humanitarian parole.”

 

The Adams administration has been calling upon the federal and state governments to provide additional support to address the influx of asylum seekers since last year. Today’s call lays out three concrete steps that the executive branch of the federal government can immediately take to expedite work authorization for asylum seekers:

• Given the continued worsening humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Sudan, South Sudan, and Cameroon, re-designating TPS to a more recent date and extending the eligibility period would allow a higher number of asylum seekers to access TPS protection. TPS-eligible individuals are able to receive work authorization for the duration of their TPS. 

• Providing access to humanitarian parole for asylum seekers in the United States and those crossing the border and allowing them to extend, as necessary, will further expedite access to work authorization. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security can exercise their discretion to provide humanitarian parole to individuals at the border and already in the United States, who can then apply for work authorization. 

• Surging additional USCIS officers to process key application types may dramatically reduce TPS and work authorization application processing times, including for individuals with pending asylum applications.

As of March 31, 2023, New York City alone has incurred more than $817 million in costs related to housing and caring for the asylum seeker population. Over Fiscal Year 2023, the city anticipates spending $1.4 billion, and $2.9 billion in Fiscal Year 2024. This means an estimated total of $4.3 billion will be spent by June 30, 2024. 

 

Despite calls for additional support for months, New York City faces these costs alone, without adequate support from the federal or state governments. This is an unsustainable fiscal burden that strains the city’s budget and places at risk funding for programs and services that benefit New Yorkers. 

JOINT STATEMENT FROM NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE, CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION PUSHING FOR FEDERAL ACTION ON ASYLUM SEEKERS, IMMIGRATION REFORM

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams and Representatives Jamaal Bowman, Yvette Clarke, Daniel Goldman, Grace Meng, and Nydia Velásquez of the New York Congressional delegation issued the following joint statement on the need for legislative and executive action on the federal level to address both the immediate asylum seeker crisis and longer-term immigration infrastructure.

"For almost a year, New York City has been a focal point of the ongoing challenge of aiding asylum seekers – but this issue did not originate when the first bus arrived at Port Authority. It is rooted in decades of inaction toward reforming our immigration infrastructure and agencies’ inability to adapt to the needs of people arriving in our country.

"During NYC Immigrant Heritage Week, we are raising our voices and elevating the immigrant experience to urge action. New York City, a city of immigrants, needs aid in meeting the current crisis, and at the same time, we must implement real, achievable, sustainable changes to our federal systems of immigration to help ensure that people coming to our country for its opportunities do not find themselves arriving in a new crisis of our own inertia."