CNN Newsroom: Interview With Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY)
Interview
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Thank you, Fredricka. Thank you for having me.
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Well, Fredricka, we spoke, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus spoke to Secretary Mayorkas and we gave a series of recommendations, some of which have been implemented. We certainly didn't want the family detention model that was perpetrated during the Trump administration. All the research shows that children are harmed, perhaps some of them are for life, they're traumatized held under these adverse conditions. So we're not going back to that.
And of course, there is an effort to bring people here legally through the app. And of course there is 30,000 slots for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela that was started back in January. That will continue. Also, there is a new sort like family reunification effort that will apply to folks from El Salvador, Colombia and Guatemala. And it's a program that would allow citizens to apply from these countries to apply to have their family members from those countries petition. And it's a temporary parole and work authorization program. So those
are both good. But, you know, is it enough? I mean, obviously there's an end to the transit ban and so that will force folks to seek asylum in one of those countries and that's a problem. Those countries do not have the infrastructure to process the asylum. In some cases like in the Nicaragua case, if you're coming from Cuba, you're not going to seek asylum from Nicaragua when you know they're friendly governments. They may deport you back there. And so the traditional asylum process is somewhat compromised when you don't allow a lane for those people to apply and make their claim.
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Well, certainly I think that the entire country should do their job on this. It shouldn't be just on the shoulders of one particular community or one city. You know, I'm leading a letter to FEMA this week because they're not reimbursing enough funding to New York City on time. And so it's a stress on the budget of New York City. And of course that creates issues. But certainly we are a country of immigrants.
These are folks that are fleeing what I call a crisis of democracy in the Americas. And it's not just a left-wing or right-wing crisis. In fact it applies to countries on both ends. And so we as a leader of this hemisphere, the Western hemisphere, should really address this, not just in those countries but (INAUDIBLE) folks who are looking to seek asylum right here.
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I think that's a different attempt for those governors who are trying to score political points and send all the migrants to, let's say, New York City or another city or Washington, D.C. Those governors are just trying to score some cheap political points and some might take advantage of this situation that folks are facing. They have to cross El Darian in Panama, the Panama jungle, through really adverse conditions to get here. They are seeking asylum and they get bused so that they could maybe
score and get some political votes. That's not what we're trying to do at all. I don't think that's what the mayor of New York City is trying to do. He's trying to say if you have a family member somewhere else and you'd rather be with them, I'll facilitate that. If you feel that you'll be able to do better somewhere else, I'll facilitate that.
But so far New York City has been responsible in taking a large number of migrants that have come in. And we're fighting for the funding to come from Washington.
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Thank you.
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