Housing immigrants in a Brooklyn facility managed by the National Park Service is incompatible with the agency’s mission, Republican lawmakers argued Friday in a letter to Biden administration officials.
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and 21 other GOP lawmakers are demanding that Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and National Park Service Director Charles Sams explain why Floyd Bennett Field was leased to New York City to house unsheltered immigrants .
“Regardless of personal or political beliefs on immigration or migrant policy, there is common ground in keeping our national parks — some of America’s most precious spaces — out of this debate,” the lawmakers wrote.
“All national parks, whether rural or urban, exist for visitors to experience wonder, recreate and find joy, or simply learn more about our nation’s great history.”
“National parks, however, are not places for temporary or permanent encampment of people experiencing a lack of housing options,” the letter continued.
Housing immigrants in a Brooklyn facility managed by the National Park Service is incompatible with the agency’s mission, Republican lawmakers argued Friday in a letter to the Biden administration.Getty Images
“The Governor of New York has gone on the record about DOI’s refusal to comply with the request, due to statutory restrictions. We agree that the use of NPS land to house unsheltered immigrants is beyond the statutory authority of the NPS.”
City officials formally signed a lease agreement with the federal government on Friday that allows Floyd Bennett Field to be used as an emergency site to shelter some of the more than 113,000 migrants who have poured into New York since last spring and overwhelmed the city’s resources, including shelters.
The 1,300-acre site, a former naval air station housed in the Gateway National Recreation Area, will be used to house about 2,500 immigrants.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has agreed to fully reimburse the city for the Floyd Bennett Field lease.
Legislators state that “the mission of the NPS is to ‘preserve intact the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.'”
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) is demanding an explanation for why Floyd Bennett Field was leased to house unsheltered immigrants.ZUMAPRESS.com
“More specifically, referring to the Jamaica Bay Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area, the Secretary is directed to ‘administer and protect the islands and waters within the Jamaica Bay Unit with the primary goal of conserving the natural resources, fish, and wildlife therein. in it and will not allow development or use of this area that is not suitable for this purpose,’” they added.
Westerman told The Post on Friday that he was deeply troubled by the lease agreement and accused New York City of “contaminating” national park land.
“It is deeply troubling to see this announcement today and to know that NYC is committed to polluting our national parks by building immigrant shelters,” Westerman said in a statement.
City officials officially signed a lease agreement with the federal government on Friday that allows the use of Floyd Bennett Field as an emergency site to shelter some of the more than 113,000 migrants. Paul Martinka
“Biden’s failed border policy has gotten us into this mess, and the burden should not be on the National Park Service to get us out. Under my watch as Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, I will not stand by and let this Administration turn one of America’s best ideas into a camp for illegal immigrants.”
Lawmakers are demanding documents and communications related to the lease of Floyd Bennett Field, as well as information about the economic impact that the park’s land would have on becoming an immigrant sanctuary.
The committee has set a deadline of September 29 for the Home Department to submit the information.
“We will continue,” Westerman added, “to fight for America’s most valuable space.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
