ALBANY — A claim by U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro that Gov. Kathy Hochul directed the New York state Department of Labor to identify job openings for illegal immigrants statewide was denied late Tuesday by an official spokesman for the Department of Labor.
Beau Duffy, deputy commissioner of strategic communications for the Labor Department, said in a statement that a directive to identify job openings for unsanctioned immigrants would overstep the department’s legal authority.
“The New York state Department of Labor initiative is only available to individuals who have attained legal work status,” Duffy said. “It is illegal under federal law to employ individuals without legal work status, and we follow federal law in all cases.”
“This is what we do,” DOL spokesman Beau Duffy said in a statement Monday. “Helping people find careers is our specialty at the Department of Labor. This is an ongoing effort.”
The Department of Labor’s role is to connect asylum seekers to employment opportunities so they can begin working once they receive federal work authorization. As part of the effort, the department created a portal on its website where employers can let the department know they would be willing to hire asylum seekers once they have federal work authorization along with the number of open positions they have.
These are not open positions specifically marked for asylum seekers, but total open positions. The Department of Labor does not place workers in jobs, but puts them in touch with employment opportunities.
hochul updated figures
On Aug. 24, Hochul directed the Department of Labor to reach out to employers and determine which job openings could be filled with migrants and asylum seekers, according to a media release from the governor’s office.
Hochul announced at an Oct. 2 press conference that the survey identified more than 18,000 private sector job openings at 379 companies who have identified roles that could be filled by immigrants with legal work status. This includes job openings in accommodation and food services, health care and social assistance, manufacturing and administrative support.
About 40,000 job openings were identified in Hochul’s directive, Molinaro, R-19, said Monday when he called for the governor to launch a statewide campaign to identify job openings for upstate New Yorkers.
“Upstate New York job seekers should come first,” Molinaro said “If Gov. Hochul can have a campaign that identified thousands of job openings for illegal immigrants, then it’s within her authority to launch a similar campaign with just as much resources and effort to help upstate New Yorkers land jobs.”
In a statement released Tuesday, Molinaro said his 40,000 figure is not his number. He said the number came directly from Gov. Hochul’s Department of Labor report during the Dec. 18 press conference.
Duffy explained the disparity between the figure from the Labor Department and Molinaro’s office.
“The governor’s announcement was a snapshot at that time of how many businesses had filled out our form to indicate interest and the number of available jobs they reported,” Duffy said. “Businesses have continued to sign up since that time — that’s why our current numbers are higher than what the governor reported.”
In another immigrant-related matter, Molinaro criticized Hochul for failing to note the migrant crisis in her State of the State address.
“There’s over 100,000 undocumented immigrants in New York City and the city is still attempting to bus more migrants to communities in upstate New York,” Molinaro said. “This is a crisis. It’s baffling that Gov. Hochul wouldn’t even mention it in her State of the State address or in her 180-page 2024 agenda.”
More than 100,000 undocumented immigrants are in New York City, with more arriving each day. To alleviate the strain the migrant crisis has had, the city has been busing migrants to communities across upstate New York, including New York’s 19th Congressional District. Counties like Greene and Columbia have responded by declaring states of emergency to stop the city from sending migrants.