New York City Comptroller Brad Lander says each of the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants in the city should get free legal representation because they could boost the economy by $8.4 billion over the next three decades, the New York Post reports.
In his “Economic Benefits of Immigration Legal Services” report, Lander said giving each migrant a free attorney would prevent them from being deported outside the Empire State.
“Access to work authorization leads to higher wages,” the report says. “The higher earning power generates more tax revenue. Higher personal income also benefits the economy through increased consumer spending.
“Additionally, gaining lawful status also opens the door to more immigrants opening bank accounts, buying homes, and starting businesses, which all help grow the economy,” it continues.
Referring to the proposed state Access to Representation Act, the report adds, “The quicker cases get resolved, the quicker immigrant New Yorkers can get back into the workforce, get access to the legal protections for which they qualify, and contribute to our economy.”
The report fails to note that the migrants illegally entered the U.S. — or say how much assigning a lawyer to each illegal would cost New York taxpayers.
It comes at a time when New York has revealed it is costing the city upwards of $25 million a day to house and feed the migrants, not accounting for their medical and education costs. New York Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly said it will drain the city's coffers by $10 billion in the next few years to deal with the crisis.
It also comes on the heels of the revelation that 50% of New Yorkers plan to leave New York City over the next five years, according to a poll by the Citizens Budget Commission.
Local politicians from both sides of the aisle ripped apart Lander’s idea.
“Every couple of weeks, there’s another politician telling us the migrant crisis is giving us some newfound, economic benefit — and yet all we seem to keep doing is using taxpayer money to pay for services,” City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli, R-Staten Island, said.
“Both of those things can’t be true.”
City Councilman Robert Holden, D-Queens, remarked: “No amount of gaslighting by the king panderer Brad Lander can change the undeniable fact that unfettered migration across the border is detrimental to our city.
“Half of New Yorkers are looking for the exit door because of what’s going on,” Holden continued. “We need to reverse that.”
Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, D-Queens, who co-sponsored the Access to Representation Act, said, “Your ability to protect your rights, fight to stay in the country you love, and remain with your family shouldn’t depend on your ability to afford a lawyer. That is why we must pass the Act.”
City Hall did not respond to a request for comment by the Post.
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