The Biden administration must end its resettlement of migrants on National Park Service land, says House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-AR).
Westerman used a Wednesday oversight hearing to highlight the Biden administration’s construction plan for migrant camps on “some of America’s most treasured lands.”
The Biden administration did not honor Westerman’s request to send an administration official to discuss the policy, to Westerman’s disgust. “Congress has a duty to conduct oversight and this committee will not tolerate seeing Biden’s bad policy destroy one of America’s best ideas,” he said.
Chairman @RepWesterman ➡️ “Now, the Biden administration is looking to spread this chaos to one of America’s greatest ideas: our national parks.” pic.twitter.com/ykwUMsHY0S
— House Committee on Natural Resources (@NatResources) September 27, 2023
More than 100,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since the spring of 2022, according to Westerman. The city is so overwhelmed with migrants that Democrat Mayor Eric Adams recently claimed that the Biden administration’s current immigration policies will “destroy the City.”
The city’s own policies transformed it into a magnet for migration despite the city’s inability to handle the influx. New York identifies as a “sanctuary city” and refuses to cooperate with federal agencies in identifying and removing illegal aliens, even those with prior felony convictions.
New York Mayor Eric Adams on July 31, 2023, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
New York also has a “right to shelter” law, which requires all persons, regardless of their legal status, to be provided with shelter and food, paid for by the city.
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The staggering numbers of migrants prompted the administration’s plan to construct housing in Floyd Bennett Field in the NPS’s Gateway National Recreation Area. The city has entered into lease agreements with the NPS to permit the construction of the migrant encampment where area residents have long escaped to kayak and fish.
Westerman recently joined Breitbart News Saturday to discuss his opposition to the administration’s plan and the inability of officials to answer questions surrounding the security of the facilities. He advocated in that interview passage of a House Republican spending vehicle to fund increased border security and keep the government open.
New migrant shelters under construction on Randall’s Island in New York, on August 16, 2023. (Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The administration is circumventing environmental regulations to expedite the construction, a concession rarely afforded to American citizens seeking housing that further inflamed members of the committee.
The border crisis has shown no signs of abating, and Westerman is alarmed by the damage that could result from this precedent if this policy is extended to additional national parks throughout the nation. He warned American citizens that “President Biden’s failing border policies are coming to a park near you.”
Follow Bradley Jaye on Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.