Atlantic City airport suggested by Biden administration as shelter for NYC asylum seekers

The Biden administration has suggested Atlantic City International Airport as a potential shelter space for asylum seekers in New York City, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The Egg Harbor Township-based airport, located 10 miles outside Atlantic City, was among 11 federally owned facilities listed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in a letter to New York City Mayor Eric Adams this week as temporary housing for some of the 60,000 migrants who recently arrived in the city, Bloomberg reported.

The South Jersey Transportation Authority, which operates the airport, declined to comment Thursday.

Egg Harbor Township Mayor Laura Pfrommer strongly rejected the plan.

“The humanitarian crisis created by the federal government not appropriately dealing with the issues of immigration has unfairly resulted in small communities having to bear the brunt of this inaction,” she said in a statement. “Egg Harbor Township is a community of under 50,000 residents ... the burden put on our citizens would be overwhelming and the effect on the school system, roads and resources to accommodate them would be devastating.”

She continued: “An air base and technical center where classified work is performed every day is not an area unvetted immigrants should be housed. We strongly urge the federal government to actually deal with the situation at the border and not shift the responsibility to communities.”

A spokesperson for Gov. Phil Murphy did not return requests for comment.

The potential plan also earned sharp rebukes from Republican lawmakers in New Jersey, as well as from Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small, a Democrat.

In an interview, Small said he “completely opposed” relocating asylum seekers to the nearby airport, and worried it would further grow his city’s homeless population, and strain the city’s addiction services and infrastructure.

“I was pissed,” Small said about reading the report. “Municipalities near and far rely on ‘Greyhound Therapy’ when it comes to Atlantic City. They send their less fortunate with a one-way ticket to Atlantic City and tell them to figure it out. If it happens, we hope that it doesn’t spill into our city. We are trying to get rid of the problems we have. We are in no position to take on any more people that don’t live here.”

The report comes as New York City attempts to care for more than 100,000 migrants who arrived there from America’s southern border since last April. Hundreds more arrive in the city each week. Since early last year, the city has set up 200 makeshift shelters in hotels, office buildings, and temporary tent structures. Feeding and sheltering the growing population could cost $12 billion by 2025, New York City officials estimate.

The issue has become a tension point between the Biden administration and Democratic lawmakers in New York.

In New Jersey, U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican who represents part of Egg Harbor Township, condemned any plan to use the Atlantic City airport as a shelter.

“President Biden and his administration have continually refused to enforce our nation’s rule of law,” he said in a statement. “Instead of securing our southern border, the administration is spending taxpayer dollars to fly illegal immigrants across the country to areas that simply do not have the want or resources to house them. This is their mess, they deal with it and leave South Jersey out of it.”

Van Drew called on Murphy to “unequivocally reject this proposal.”

State Sen. Vince Polistina, a Republican from Atlantic County, was more blunt.

“My message to President Biden and NYC Mayor Adams is ‘hell no!’ ” Polistina said in a statement.

Murphy said as a candidate in 2017 he would consider making New Jersey a “sanctuary state.” Last year, Murphy said New Jersey was “prepared” to accept groups of migrants and asylum seekers. At the time, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, both Republicans, gained national attention by sending asylum seekers to blue-leaning states.

“Let’s not play politics with people’s lives, using them as pawns,” Murphy said at the time.

The Biden administration’s letter also included New York Stewart International Airport, a small Hudson Valley facility serviced mostly by private jets, Bloomberg reported.