Nicole Malliotakis: “I thank the chairwoman for yielding me some time. Madam Speaker, as a Representative in New York City, I am all too…”

“I thank the chairwoman for yielding me some time. Madam Speaker, as a Representative in New York City, I am all too familiar, unfortunately, with this situation. Quite frankly, this is a problem that was created by two people. First, our President decided it was a good idea to open our borders and allow millions of individuals to come in without the proper vetting, without knowing exactly what their intentions are. Some, yes, are applying for asylum, but they should still be doing so through the proper channels. They should be doing so from the next safe country, not coming to the southern border. With that said, we look at court documents and we see that roughly 60 percent of those individuals are having those court cases denied under this administration, which tells you that the majority of people coming over our southern border are not legitimate asylum seekers. Secondly, I blame the problem in New York City on my mayor, Mayor Eric Adams, because he is misinterpreting New York City's right-to- shelter law. That was a court decree under Mayor Ed Koch that was agreed to to address the issue of homeless New Yorkers. It was always intended to provide support and housing for homeless New Yorkers, citizens of New York, not individuals who just strolled over the border last week. Think about this: By the mayor's logic, everyone in New York City is entitled to shelter whether they are a citizen or not.…”