Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ripped President Biden’s chaotic open border policy — blasting the administration as unprepared and admitting that the “southern states were right.”
“It was a mistake for President Biden to open the border without having a plan to handle the tremendous flow of people,” Cuomo, 65, said in the latest episode of his “Matter of Fact” podcast, released Wednesday.
“President Biden had said he would do it in the campaign — but you can’t change a policy unless you have the program in place to manage the change,” he continued, referencing Biden’s reversal of Trump-era restrictions on immigration to the US.
The scandal-scarred former politician accused the Biden administration of not understanding the “consequences of enacting those promises.”
“The southern states were right that opening the border created a tremendous hardship for them to handle. They were right that the federal government was not prepared,” Cuomo declared, though he disagreed with those states busing migrants north to sanctuary cities.
Since Biden, 80, took office in January 2021, a record number of illegal immigrants have poured into the US after his administration reversed several hardline policies enacted by former President Donald Trump, 76 — including the “Remain in Mexico” policy that required would-be asylum seekers to await their immigration hearings south of the border.
“This is a federal problem. Immigration is a federal responsibility,” Cuomo blasted.
The ex-Empire State leader — who resigned in August 2021 amid accusations of sexual misconduct, which he denied — said the uncontrolled flow of migrants has wreaked havoc across much of America.
“The border is not just the gateway for people, but for drugs,” he said, referring to the thousands of Americans being killed every year by fentanyl overdoses.
“This is on top of a homeless problem that had already strained resources in urban areas,” Cuomo added.
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The former three-term governor also took a veiled shot at his successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, charging that the state government — not New York City Mayor Eric Adams — should take the lead in managing the flow of migrants.
“New York City should never have accepted responsibility on its own. The mayor should have said that New York state needed to handle the problem,” Cuomo insisted.
Hochul’s team should have equitably distributed the placement of migrants in counties across the state, and not just in NYC — making the burden more manageable, he said.
More than 43,000 migrants have entered the Big Apple since last spring with 28,400 living in 83 hotels and five “Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers” established in larger hotels as well the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.
Still, Cuomo praised Biden’s new plan that permits the quick deportation of Cubans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and Venezuelans who illegally enter the US.
The deportation policy, a variation on a Trump-era program, also sets up a new application and vetting process for those who want to obtain lawful entry from their home country.
In addition, Cuomo said increased US aid given to economically struggling neighboring Central American countries could also help curb illegal border crossing.
Source: New York Post
