Elected officials gathered in Atlantic City Friday to denounce a Biden administration proposal to shelter migrants at the Atlantic City International Airport.
The collective reaction of the leaders was “immediately…hell no,” according to state Sen. Vince Polistina (R).
“From our standpoint, somebody in Washington, D.C. was not following this too closely and taking a look at where they are recommending that this be done,” Polistina said.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg News reported that the Biden administration sent New York City Mayor Eric Adams a list of 11 federally-owned sites, including the airport, as possible places to relocate migrants. The city is handling around 60,000 asylum seekers. Adams has criticized the Biden administration for a lack of support and resources in caring for the migrants.
The South Jersey officials argued Friday that the region does not have the resources to handle the influx of migrants.
“[We don’t] have the capacity to take care of this,” said Egg Harbor Township Mayor Laura Pfrommer. “We don’t have the school room, we don’t have the roads, we don’t have an infrastructure. We don’t have a social service program that can handle this.”