ALBANY, N.Y. — As more than 100,000 migrants arrived in New York City over the past year after crossing the border from Mexico, Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul have begged President Joe Biden for one thing, above all others, to ease the crisis:
“Let them work,†both Democrats have said repeatedly in speeches and interviews.

Immigrants from Venezuela are reflected in a marble wall while taking shelter at the Chicago Police Department's 16th District station May 1 in Chicago.Â
Increasingly impatient leaders of Biden’s party in other cities and states have hammered the same message over the last month, saying the administration must make it easier for migrants to get work authorization quickly, which would allow them to pay for food and housing.
The Biden administration took one step toward granting that demand Wednesday, extending a temporary legal status to an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans in the U.S. that will make it easier for them to get work permits.
But expediting work permits isn’t so easy, either legally or bureaucratically, experts in the process say. Politically, it may be impossible.
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It would take an act of Congress to shorten a mandatory, six-month waiting period before asylum-seekers can apply for work permits. Some Democratic leaders say the Biden administration could take steps that wouldn’t require congressional approval. But neither action seems likely. Biden already faces attacks from Republicans who say he is too soft on immigration, and his administration has pointed to Congress' inability to reach agreement on comprehensive changes to the U.S. immigration system as justification for other steps it has taken.
The Homeland Security Department has sent more than 1 million text messages urging those eligible to apply for work permits, but it has shown no inclination to speed the process. A backlog of applications means the wait for a work permit is almost always longer than six months.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, left, and New York Mayor Eric Adams attend a news conference about the "Gun Free Zone" implementation at Times Square on Aug. 31, 2022, in New York. As tens of thousands of international migrants have arrived in New York City over the past year without jobs or a home, Adams and Hochul have asked President Joe Biden to make it easier for migrants to get work authorization papers quickly.Â
Those steps pleased Hochul and Adams, who said late Wednesday that he hoped the administration would also extend Temporary Protected Status to migrants from countries besides Venezuela. That designation is most commonly given to places where there is an armed conflict or natural disaster.
As frustrations have mounted, Hochul has said her office is considering whether the state could offer work permits, though such a move would almost certainly draw legal challenges. The White House has dismissed the idea.
Immigrants are frustrated as well. Gilberto Pozo Ortiz, a 45-year-old from Cuba, has been living, at taxpayer expense, in a hotel in upstate New York for the past three months. He says his work authorization is not yet in sight as social workers navigate him through a complex asylum application system.
“I want to depend on no one,†Ortiz said. “I want to work."
In Chicago, where 13,000 migrants have settled in the past year, Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker wrote Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to ask for parole for asylum-seekers, which, they say, would allow him to get around the wait for a work permit.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who declared a state of emergency over the migrant influx, wrote Mayorkas that work permits represent “an opportunity to meet employer needs, support our economy, and reduce dependency among new arrivals.†And 19 Democratic state attorneys general wrote Mayorkas that work permits would reduce the strain on government to provide social services.
The federal government has done “virtually nothing†to assist cities, said Chicago Alderman Andre Vasquez, chair of the City Council’s Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
In the meantime, migrants unable to get work permits have filled up homeless shelters in several cities.
With more than 60,000 migrants currently depending on New York City for housing, the city has rented space in hotels, put cots in recreational centers and erected tent shelters — all at government expense. The Adams administration has estimated that housing and caring for migrants could cost the city $12 billion over three years.
“This issue will destroy New York City,†Adams said at a community event this month. “We’re getting no support on this national crisis, and we’re receiving no support."
Advocates for migrants have objected to Adams’ apocalyptic terms, saying he is exaggerating the potential impact of the new arrivals on a city of nearly 8.8 million people.
But protests against the migrants have escalated. Ten people were arrested recently on Staten Island when demonstrators blocked a bus carrying migrants. A police spokesperson said nine people were charged with disorderly conduct and one with assault.
Asked about the Staten Island protest in a television interview, Adams said he would not be “bullied†by anti-migrant protests but added, “I understand the frustration that New Yorkers are going through and I understand the frustration that asylum seekers are experiencing as well.â€
Republicans have seized on the discord, putting Democrats on the defensive ahead of next year’s presidential elections.
Muzaffar Chishti, a lawyer and senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, said the calls for expedited work authorizations are more about political optics than practical solutions.
“They don’t want to tell the electorate there’s nothing we can do. No politician wants to say that. So they have kind of become the new squeaky wheel, saying, `Give us work authorization,'†he said. “Saying that is much easier than getting it. But it’s sort of, you know, a good soundbite.â€
One step that most agree would be helpful is to provide legal assistance to migrants to apply for asylum and work authorization, though that has also proved challenging.
Nationwide, only around 16% of working-age migrants enrolled in a U.S. Custom and Border Protection online app have applied for work permits, according to the White House. Since the introduction of the CBP One app in January through the end of July, nearly 200,000 asylum-seeking migrants have used it to sign up for appointments to enter the U.S. at land crossings with Mexico.
Federal officials recently began sending email and text message notifications to remind noncitizens that they are eligible to apply. New York City officials have also begun to survey asylum seekers to determine if they are eligible.
Another option would be to expand the number of nations whose citizens qualify for Temporary Protected Status in the U.S. That designation is most commonly given to places where there is an armed conflict or natural disaster.
The White House, though, might be reluctant to take steps that could be interpreted as incentivizing migrants to come to the U.S.
Photos: Chicago, other cities say shelters full, budgets hit by immigration uptick

Immigrants from Venezuela are reflected in a marble wall while taking shelter at the Chicago Police Department's 16th District station on Monday, May 1, 2023. Chicago has seen the number of new arrivals grow tenfold in recent days. Shelter space is scarce and migrants awaiting a bed are sleeping on floors in police stations and airports. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Migrants from Venezuela take shelter in the Chicago Police Department's 16th District station on Monday, May 1, 2023. Chicago has seen the number of new arrivals grow tenfold in recent days. Shelter space is scarce and migrants awaiting a bed are sleeping on floors in police stations and airports. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Migrants from Venezuela take shelter in the Chicago Police Department's 16th District station on Monday, May 1, 2023. Chicago has seen the number of new arrivals grow tenfold in recent days. Shelter space is scarce and migrants awaiting a bed are sleeping on floors in police stations and airports. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Yessika Chirino, an immigrant from Venezuela plays with her daughter Charlotte, left, and Avril Brandelli as they take shelter in the Chicago Police Department's 16th District station on Monday, May 1, 2023. Chicago has seen the number of new arrivals grow tenfold in recent days. Shelter space is scarce and migrants awaiting a bed are sleeping on floors in police stations and airports. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Karen Malave, center, an immigrant from Venezuela, smiles as she fixes her daughter Avril Brandelli's hair, while they and other families take shelter Monday in the Chicago Police Department's 16th District station.Â

Venezuelan immigrant girls Avril Brandelli, left, and Charlotte, play Monday in an area of the Chicago Police Department's 16th District station where their families have taken shelter. Shelter space is scarce, and migrants awaiting a bed are sleeping on floors in police stations and airports.

Chicago Police Department desk Sgt. Greg Noncz works as migrants from Venezuela are reflected in a marble wall while taking shelter Monday in the department's 16th District station. Chicago has seen the number of new arrivals grow tenfold in recent days.

A migrant from Venezuela talks outside on a cell phone where he has taken shelter with others in the Chicago Police Department's 16th District station on Monday, May 1, 2023. Chicago has seen the number of new arrivals grow tenfold in recent days. Shelter space is scarce and migrants awaiting a bed are sleeping on floors in police stations and airports. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Karen Malave, left, an immigrant from Venezuela, and her daughter, Avril Brandelli, smile as Charlotte runs past them while they take shelter in the Chicago Police Department's 16th District station Monday, May 1, 2023. Chicago has seen the number of new arrivals grow tenfold in recent days. Shelter space is scarce and migrants awaiting a bed are sleeping on floors in police stations and airports. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Charlotte, a Venezuelan immigrant, stands in silhouette holding a baby doll as her family and others take shelter in the Chicago Police Department's 16th District station on Monday, May 1, 2023.Â