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To seemingly every American except Biden administration officials, there is an ongoing humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border. In just 26 months, the Biden administration has allowed approximately 4 million illegal aliens into American communities a number larger than the population of the city of Los Angeles. When confronted with these realities, administration officials have continuously downplayed the situation and offered numerous excuses, including blaming the previous administration and falsely claiming they need new laws to solve the problem.

However, the truth is that ample authority already exists to implement robust policies that discourage human traffickers from bringing illegal immigrants across the border and impose meaningful consequences on anybody who disregards the rule of law. This is exactly what we accomplished in the Trump administration. Unfortunately, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas refuses to use his discretionary authority to secure the border, so House Republicans are calling the Biden administrations bluff by introducing the Border Security and Enforcement Act, legislation designed to secure the border, end human trafficking, and defeat the cartels.

The Biden administration would have the American people believe that border security simply means hiring more personnel to process migrants faster. But I believe border security requires a combination of building the physical border wall system, enforcing current immigration law, and reforming our broken asylum system. If you believe that the heavily exploited asylum system works just fine, then you accept the status quo and will likely oppose this border security package. However, if you think changes are needed, as I do, you should welcome this effort to end asylum fraud and the exploitation of vulnerable migrants.

Heres whats in the bill and why I believe its a good first step.

This seminal legislation curbs abuse of the asylum system by raising the standard for establishing credible fear. And for those who do pass the standard, it mandates detention or resumption of the highly successful Remain in Mexico policy. Currently, the asylum system is easily exploited by economic migrants and trafficking networks because the initial screening process for illegal aliens apprehended at the border known as the credible fear interview is easily passed, even with the most dubious of asylum claims. Under Biden administration policies, those who establish credible fear around 80% of migrants are released into American communities even though fewer than 15% will ultimately qualify for asylum. This incentivizes asylum fraud as the easiest ticket into the U.S. while delaying the ability to grant humanitarian relief to those persecuted migrants who are entitled to it under the law. The result of these provisions will be fewer bogus claims clogging up the immigration court system and a higher percentage but lower total number of aliens who are granted asylum after passing the credible fear test. It will also reduce the time between when an alien is apprehended at the border and when they receive humanitarian relief.

The House Judiciary Committee is also seeking to end the cruel Biden administration policies that have incentivized the exploitation of the most vulnerable migrants. Various legal loopholes make it difficult to promptly return unaccompanied alien children unless they are Mexican or Canadian. The Biden administration has recklessly implementedpoliciestoquicklyhand these migrant kids over to sponsors withoutvettingthem to the degree you saw during the Trump presidency. This has created the horrific yet preventable scenario of exploited children being handed off by the federal government to another trafficker who subjects these minors to a dark life of sex slavery and debt bondage. The border bill also closes this loophole that has traumatized untold hundreds of thousands of migrant children over the years. Another loophole has minimized the enforcement consequences against migrant families apprehended at the border. What results is a nefarious cottage industry where bad actors recycle migrant children to create fraudulent families to take advantage of being allowed into American communities. The border legislation ends this heinous practice.

Additionally, the committees bill reins in the parole authority that DHS Secretary Mayorkas is exploiting to hide the extent of the border crisis. Parole is supposed to be a narrow authority that allows the DHS secretary to allow a visa-less or inadmissible alien into the U.S., but only on a case-by-case basis for either urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Instead, Secretary Mayorkas is abusing this authority by creating unlawful nationality-based parole programs that redirect illegal aliens from the border to ports of entry with the benefit to the administration of no longer showing up in the monthly border apprehension numbers. The Border Security and Enforcement Act will put an end to this illegal use of the parole authority and prevent future administrations from circumventing the eligibility requirements established by Congress for legal immigration visa categories.

The Judiciary Committee is offering workable solutions to solve the crisis created by the Biden administrations failed border strategy. Will the administration pivot and embrace this legislation or continue to place politics over the sound policies the American people deserve?

Read this Op-Ed in Real Clear Politics here.

Chad Wolf is the former acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and executive director and chair of the Center for Homeland Security and Immigration at the America First Policy Institute.

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House GOP Offers Border Crisis Solutions Will Sound Policies ... - America First Policy Institute

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, on Tuesday announced that he is introducing a resolution to trigger a vote of no confidence in Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas -- just as the DHS chief was facing a grilling from lawmakers at a top committee.

"Mr. Secretary, you are derelict in your duties. I would be derelict to not do something about this. And that's why I have a draft resolution here that I intend to introduce in the coming days that would require the Senate to take a vote of no confidence on Secretary Mayorkas," he said as he questioned Mayorkas in a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.

"I stand at the ready to receive articles of impeachment from the House and conduct an impeachment trial in this body. But in the meantime, I think the Senate must show our colleagues in the House that we've had enough of the failures from the Department of Homeland Security and believe that the secretary is not fit to faithfully carry out the duties of his office," he said.

MAYORKAS AGAIN REFUSES TO CALL BORDER SURGE A CRISIS, SAYS IT WOULD INDICATE WITHDRAWAL FROM OUR MISSION

April 18, 2023: Sen. Roger Marshall highlights a motion of no confidence in DHS Secretary Mayorkas. (Screenshot)

The draft resolution, obtained by Fox News Digital, states that Mayorkas "does not have the confidence of the Senate or of the American people to faithfully carry out the duties of his office."

The resolution accuses Mayorkas of having "engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with his constitutional and statutory duties as Secretary of Homeland Security."

Specifically, it says that he has failed to take the necessary actions to achieve operational control of the southern border, something the head of Border Patrol has said the agency does not have.

It cites "more than 5,500,000 illegal aliens crossing the United States southern border during Secretary Mayorkas term in office, including 20 consecutive months with more than 150,000 illegal border crossings and a 180 percent increase in encounters at the southern border compared to the previous administration"

BORDER PATROL CHIEF SAYS DHS DOESN'T HAVE OPERATIONAL CONTROL OF US BORDER

It also notes the apprehension of nearly 100 individuals on the terror watch list, an increase in fentanyl seizures and "gotaways" at the border, and also cites a number of moves by the administration that it says has encouraged illegal immigration including the ending of the border wall construction, ending of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) and attempts to end the Title 42 public health order which will end next month.

It also notes Mayorkas' role in the controversy surrounding Border Patrol agents who were falsely accused of whipping Haitian migrants in 2021.

April 18, 2023: DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks in front of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. (Screenshot)

Marshall's resolution comes as Republicans in the House have been mulling an impeachment push since last year over what they see as the Biden administration's policies that have exacerbated the migrant crisis. Multiple lawmakers have introduced articles of impeachment, but none have yet been voted on. Should Mayorkas be impeached in the House, the process would then move to the Senate for a trial. Mayorkas could not be removed by the Senate without the House voting first.

BIDEN ADMIN SEES PROGRESS IN TACKLING BORDER CRISIS AS MARCH'S NUMBERS DOWN FROM LAST YEAR

Mayorkas has become a lightning rod for Republican criticism over the border crisis, and scrutiny has increased ahead of the looming end of Title 42 expulsions at the beginning of May. While the administration has been touting relatively lower numbers in recent months which it ties to border measures introduced in January that included increased expulsions of a humanitarian parole program for four nationalities officials fear a massive increase in apprehensions once Title 42 drops.

The Biden administration has dismissed the push by Republicans in the House to impeach Mayorkas, saying that Congress should instead focus on fixing what it says is a broken immigration system. A spokesperson on Tuesday renewed those calls in response to Marshall's resolution.

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"Secretary Mayorkas is proud to advance the noble mission of this Department, support its extraordinary workforce, and serve the American people.The Department will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border, protect the nation from terrorism, improve our cybersecurity, all while building a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system. Instead of pointing fingers and pursuing baseless attacks, Congress should work with the Department and pass legislation to fix our broken immigration system, which has not been updated in over 40 years." a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

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Sen. Marshall introduces resolution for vote of no confidence in Mayorkas amid Senate grilling - Fox News

One of the most common questions that I regularly get is How many illegal migrants has President Biden released? I have run the numbers, and its at least 2,020,522. I promise to show my math, but the real total is likely hundreds of thousands more, plus 1,373,155 others who evaded Border Patrol agents, all thanks to the presidents catch and release policies.

Disclosures in Texas v. Biden. Most of the information publicly available on President Bidens migrant releases comes from Texas v. Biden, a case filed by the states of Texas and Missouri in April 2021 to force DHS to reimplement the Trump-era Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), better known as Remain in Mexico.

By way of background, MPP was a program implemented in January 2019 by then-DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, which allowed CBP to return other than Mexican migrants (OTMs) caught entering illegally back to Mexico to await their removal hearings.

Although MPP was not in full effect until summer 2019, nearly 70,000 OTMs were returned across the border under the program during the Trump administration. When their hearing dates arrived, MPP enrollees were paroled in custody into the United States to appear before immigration judges at border port courts. If they were granted asylum, they were admitted into the United States; if asylum was denied, they were removed.

In its October 2019 assessment of the program, DHS determined that MPP was an indispensable tool in addressing the ongoing crisis at the southern border and restoring integrity to the immigration system, particularly as related to alien families. Asylum cases were expedited under the program and, as a consequence, MPP removed incentives for aliens to make weak or bogus claims when apprehended.

Despite the effectiveness (and indispensability) of MPP, one of President Bidens first actions after taking office was to suspend new enrollments in the program.

That prompted Texas and Missouri to file suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, where it was assigned to Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk. Despite the pendency of that matter, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas formally terminated MPP in June 2021.

Two months-plus later, in August, Judge Kacsmaryk enjoined Mayorkas attempted termination of MPP.

More saliently for purpose of this analysis, however, and to ensure compliance with his order, the judge directed DHS, by September 15, 2021, and the 15th of each month thereafter, to file a report with the court that included the total number of applicants for admission encountered by CBP at the Southwest border who were paroled into the United States, as well as the number of such aliens released into the United States, paroled or otherwise.

As of June 15, 2022, those disclosures revealed that under the Biden administration, CBP both Border Patrol agents and CBP officers in the agencys Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the ports and ICE had released 1,049,532 Southwest border migrants into the United States.

Note that those nearly 1.05 million migrants were released from DHS custody despite the fact that section 235(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) mandates that all such aliens be detained until they are formally admitted, granted asylum or some other relief from removal, or removed.

On June 30, 2022, the Supreme Court vacated Judge Kacsmaryks order and sent Texas to the lower courts for consideration of Mayorkas second attempt to terminate MPP (issued in October 2021, while the judges order was on appeal to the Fifth Circuit). The justices, however, did not issue their final judgment in the case until August 1.

Consequently, on July 15, DHS filed its last disclosure in Texas (for the month of June 2022), reporting to Judge Kacsmaryk that CBP and ICE released 79,652 Southwest border migrants in June. That brought Bidens total Southwest border migrant release tally to 1,129,184.

After that, however, the court-ordered disclosures in Texas stopped.

Florida v. U.S. and Border Patrol Releases. As Anna Diakun from the Knight First Amendment Institute noted at the start of the second year of the current administration:

On President Joe Biden's first day in office, White House press secretary Jen Psaki pledged that the administration would "bring transparency and truth back to government." While the administration took some initial steps toward fulfilling this pledge, it has simply failed to act on a number of transparency issues. Worse, the administration seems to be embracing the opaque and undemocratic policies of its predecessors on a few other fronts.

Immigration is likely the least transparent front of the Biden administration, and nothing underscores that fact like the presidents refusal to disclose statistics on migrant releases at the Southwest border.

Want proof? In March 2021, the state of Florida filed suit in U.S. district court (ironically in the Sunshine State), challenging the Biden administrations migrant release policies, in a case captioned Florida v. U.S.

The case involved a massive discovery effort, which included depositions of both U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz and ICE Executive Associate Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations Corey Price.

And yet, in his March 8 opinion in Florida, presiding Judge T. Kent Wetherell II exasperatedly explained:

Since President Biden took office on January 20, 2021, [Border Patrol] has released more than one million aliens at the Southwest Border. That figure does not include releases by OFO because OFO does not publicly report its releases, nor does it include releases by ICE because ICE does not distinguish between interior enforcement and border enforcement in its publicly released data. [Emphasis added.]

At least, as Judge Wetherell alluded to, Border Patrol does provide statistics on its Southwest border migrant releases, on yearly CBP web pages captioned Custody and Transfer Statistics.

For FY 2022, that page reveals that between July (the month after the last disclosures in Texas) and September 2022, Border Patrol agents released 70,212 illegal migrants with Notices to Appear (NTAs) on their own recognizance (OR), and an additional 166,158 on parole under section 212(d)(5)(A) of the INA with alternatives to detention, or ATD (identified as Parole+ATD). That brings the total for Border Patrol Southwest border migrant releases during that three-month period at the end of FY 2022 to 236,370, and the grand total not counting OFO and ICE releases to 1,365,554.

The Custody and Transfer Statistics FY2023 web page shows that between October 2022 and February 2023 (the latest reporting month), Border Patrol agents released 79,671 Southwest border migrants on NTA/OR, and an additional 295,037 others on Parole+ATD, for a five-month total of 374,708.

Between the Border Patrol, OFO, and ICE disclosures in Texas and the Border Patrol Custody and Transfer Statistics numbers, but not including OFO and ICE releases after June 30, 2022, the total number of illegal migrants encountered by CBP at the Southwest border and released into the United States since Joe Biden became president therefore is 1,740,262.

Unaccompanied Alien Children. In its monthly disclosures in Texas, DHS made clear that it was not including release statistics for unaccompanied alien children (UACs):

This report does not include data on unaccompanied alien children (UCs), as defined in 6 U.S.C. 279(g), who the Court recognized are not amenable to MPP, ECF No. 94 at 9, and who are subject to special processing and are transferred to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Custody pursuant to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. See 8 U.S.C. 1232(a)(5)(D), 1232(b)(3), 1232(c)(2)(A), 1232(c)(3); see also CBP, Southwest Border Encounters, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/ southwest-land-border-encounters (providing statistics on UCs encountered by CBP).

Let me explain.

By definition, an unaccompanied alien child is an alien under the age of 18 who has no lawful immigration status and with respect to whom ... there is no parent or legal guardian in the United States; or ... no parent or legal guardian in the United States is available to provide care and physical custody. Thats the reference to 6 U.S.C. 279(g) above.

The Homeland Security Act (HSA), which abolished the former INS and created DHS, created the concept of UACs as a separate alien group and vested jurisdiction for the housing and placement of UACs who are in removal proceedings with the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, also referenced above).

At the beginning, however, there werent a lot of UACs for ORR to deal with. According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), in the early 2000s DHS only encountered about 6,700 UACs annually, placed into removal proceedings, and referred to ORR.

That all changed beginning in late 2008 when Democrats in Congress passed an extremely problematic law (that even President Obama didnt like), the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA, again referred to in the excerpt above).

Under TVPRA, DHS must transfer all UACs in its custody from non-contiguous countries (that is, every country other than Canada and Mexico) over to ORR within 72 hours of encounter, for placement with sponsors in the United States even if they have not been trafficked and do not have asylum claims.

That 2008 act has subsequently served as a magnet drawing minors to enter illegally. By FY 2012, three fiscal years after the TVPRA was passed, Border Patrol apprehended more than 24,400 UACs at the Southwest border, a figure that climbed to 38,750 in FY 2013 and 68,500 in FY 2014.

And, not surprisingly, given that TVPRA offers preferential treatment to UACs who arent from Mexico or Canada, the number and percentage of UACs apprehended at the border from non-contiguous countries has skyrocketed. According to CRS:

In FY2009 ... children from Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) represented 82% and 17%, respectively, of the 19,668 UAC apprehensions that year. By FY2021 [when nearly 145,000 UACs were apprehended at the Southwest border], those proportions had flipped, with Mexican and Northern Triangle children respectively representing 18% and 77% of all UAC apprehensions.

Since February 2021, Border Patrol has apprehended 277,383 UACs from non-contiguous countries at the Southwest border, and OFO has encountered an additional 2,877 UACs at the ports of entry there 280,260 in total.

That said, this figure may be low, because HHS reports in a March 28 fact sheet that 251,635 UACs were referred to ORR in FY 2021 and FY 2022, a figure that would not include the 46,212 non-contiguous UACs encountered by CBP at the Southwest border in FY 2023.

In any event, as of the date that fact sheet was released, HHS only had approximately 7,994 UACs in its custody, and the department explains that UACs were only spending, on average, 25 days in ORR custody before they were placed with "sponsors" (often their illegal-alien parents or other relatives already in the U.S., who paid to have the children smuggled in the first place). Thus, nearly all, if not all, of those UACs encountered at the Southwest border by the end of February have already been released into the United States.

The Grand Total. On the low side, the Biden administration has released at least 2,020,522 illegal migrants encountered by CBP at the Southwest border into the United States more people than reside in 13 U.S. states, or roughly 35,631 migrants more than the combined populations of Dallas, Texas, (1,259,404) and Seattle, Wash. (725,487).

That figure doesnt include the 1,373,155 illegal migrants who were detected entering illegally but who successfully evaded agents at the Southwest border under Biden, known colloquially as got-aways; at least 385,000 in FY 2023, according to Chief Ortiz; 599,000 in FY 2022; and 389,155 in FY 2021.

Add them in, and you are now at 3,393,677, again not counting the unknown (and hidden) number of migrants released by OFO after June 30, 2022, or aliens transferred by CBP at the Southwest border to ICE and released after that date. Thats just 375,808 fewer people than live in Los Angeles, Americas second-largest city. Add in the unknowns, and the migrant total likely exceeds LAs population.

I am just focusing on what I know, and what I know is that thanks to Joe Bidens feckless and according to Judge Wetherell, at least oft-illegal border policies, there are now at least 2,020,522 new migrants, encountered by CBP at the Southwest border and released into the United States, here. And they will likely be here indefinitely, if not forever.

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Biden's Released at Least 2,020,522 Southwest Border Migrants - Immigration Blog

Ali Bradley and Devan Markham

10 hours ago

TEMPE, Ariz.(NewsNation) Three law enforcement officials at the southern border are running for Congress, hoping their decades of experience can lead to better immigration policies.

The border battle has been playing out in their backyards for years now and they have been vocal, but with migrant encounter numbers surging once again and law enforcement bracing for the end of Title 42, Terrell County Texas Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland, Retired ICE/HSI Special Agent Victor Avila and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb are gearing up to take the fight to the halls of Congress.

Theyve told NewsNation that theyre frustrated with the lack of support from the Biden administration in what theyre calling a border crisis.

Weve lived it. Weve seen it. We know what works and what doesnt work, Thaddeus Cleveland said.

And these men dont plan to play political games, they said theyre out for change.

I think carrying that badge of honor, if you will, what weve done to protect lives, to protect the innocent, will continue on a bigger scale, Cleveland said.

Cleveland has been living and breathing border protection for nearly three decades, but the retired Border Patrol chief has been vocal about the issues as sheriff, talking exclusively with NewsNation about what a run for Congress might look like.

I really feel like were not being represented like we need to be represented in Washington, D.C. And due to that, Ive launched an exploratory committee for the 23rd congressional district, Cleveland said.

Republican Tony Gonzales is currently the representative for that district, which happens to be the largest in Texas. The district has been the epicenter of the immigration crisis as Del Rio, Eagle Pass and part of El Paso are all within District 23.

U.S. Customs and Border Protections latest report showed migrant encounters were currently on pace to beat last years nationwide encounters record of more than 2.7 million.

Im a big, big believer in law and order and public safety. Im for legal immigration, I want people to come to this country legally. But theres a right way in the right path to do that, Victor Avila said.

Avila was also on the frontlines, as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigation special agent who saw a different side of the border literally. He worked in Mexico, investigating the cartels.

Like Cleveland, Avila is vying for Gonzales 23rd district seat.

I was always frustrated in my career, like, why is there somebody like me, there in D.C. that knows making these incredible decisions that affect everybody? Well, I want to be that person, Avila said.

In Arizona, another sheriff is throwing his hat in the run for Congress.

Washington needs a new sheriff in town, Lamb said in his campaign video.

For the last seven years, Mark Lamb has been Pinal Countys sheriff, and now, hes running for Arizona Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinemas seat.

I think all Americans should consider this the fight of their lives. Clearly, this is a fight that Im in. But Im honored to take it upon myself on behalf of the people of Arizona, on behalf of my family, Lamb said.

Lamb created multiple specialized units to target human and drug smuggling running rampant in his county, which sits roughly 50 miles from the border.

He said he would work to implement similar programs on a national level.

The border crisis is affecting all of us, regardless of what party you are. All of these issues that were dealing with as a country are affecting all of us equally. And we need somebody thats going to go fight for that a proven conservative fight or somebody thats been doing it for a while, Lamb said.

All three candidates confirmed to NewsNation that they feel designating cartels as terrorist organizations, as many Republican lawmakers are pushing for, is needed and a step in the right direction to fight the flow of fentanyl.

Devan Markham contributed to this report.

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Border crisis sparks new wave of congressional candidates - NewsNation Now

New York Citys welfare agency failed to process more than three-fourths of all food stamp applications filed in December within a 30-day timeframe mandated by state law, a top official in Mayor Adams administration said Wednesday.

Jill Berry, first deputy commissioner of the Department of Social Services, disclosed the food stamp timeliness rate during a City Council hearing, showing her agency processed just 19.2% of all applications submitted in the last month of 2022 within 30 days.

A sign alerting customers about SNAP food stamps benefits is displayed at a Brooklyn grocery store on Dec. 5, 2019. (Scott Heins/Getty Images)

Since the December low, Berry testified that her agency has rebounded.

In February, the latest month for which data is available, her agencys Human Resources Administration processed 49.9% of food stamp applications within the 30-day window, she testified.

While on the right track, Berry said, We still have ways to go.

That is not where we want to be, she told Council members of the February rate, but it is a huge amount of progress since December, and we are continuing to make progress.

Adams preliminary management report, released in February, set as a goal for the administration to achieve a 90.6% food stamp processing timeliness rate by July 1, the end of this fiscal year. By comparison, the food stamp processing rate as of this past October was 42.3%, according to the preliminary management report.

Mayor Eric Adams (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News)

The administrations incremental progress comes as food stamp application processing has emerged as a crisis for the citys most vulnerable residents.

Due to the processing delays, thousands of low-income New Yorkers have had to wait for months on end to receive their food stamps, officially called SNAP benefits. The benefits, which are typically uploaded on debit cards, can award a household of three upward of $740 to spend on groceries.

As first reported by the Daily News, a group of local SNAP recipients filed a class action lawsuit against the Adams administration in January, alleging it is violating state and federal laws by failing to process their benefits on time. In the suit, they recounted stories of having to skip meals or only eat potatoes for days due to the processing delays.

The processing hiccups have been attributed to a sharp uptick in food stamp applications during the pandemic and steep staff shortages in the Human Resources Administration ranks.

In Wednesdays hearing, Berry testified her agency is moving in the right direction because it has been able to fill a significant number of vacancies in recent months. She said there are currently 815 eligibility specialists on the agencys payroll working exclusively with processing of SNAP and other low-income benefits, like cash assistance.

(Shutterstock)

Berrys testimony comes as the mayor and Democrats in the City Council remain at loggerheads over next fiscal years municipal budget.

The mayor has rolled out budget-cutting measures or Programs to Eliminate the Gap, as he calls them that would rein in spending at virtually all city agencies, including the Human Resources Administration. Citing concern about the citys fiscal health driven by the local migrant crisis, the mayors preliminary budget bid also proposed lowering funding levels for the Human Resources Administration.

Council Democrats have vehemently opposed the proposed cuts, arguing the city can afford to fund social safety net programs and care for the tens of thousands of migrants who have arrived since last spring.

In tandem with Wednesdays hearing, members of the Councils Progressive Caucus gathered in City Hall Park for a rally against the mayors budgetary vision.

We reject this mayors defunding of our social safety net infrastructure, Brooklyn Councilwoman Shahana Hanif, co-chair of the caucus, said at the rally. He is defunding safety.

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NYC's on-time processing rate for food stamps hit 19% low in ... - New York Daily News