It is said\nthat a broken clock is right twice a day. The phrase applied this week to New\nYork Governor Andrew Cuomo, who after years of pushing for more rights and\nbenefits for illegal immigrants finally got it right. On Thursday, Cuomo said\nthat given the state\u2019s financial straits, he is not willing to dole out\ntaxpayer-funded coronavirus relief to illegal aliens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The governor was asked by a reporter during his daily COVID-19 press conference<\/a> whether New York would follow California in doling out cash assistance to illegal aliens, particularly since the state presently has a $10 to $15 billion deficit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before\ndirectly answering the question, Cuomo said Congress has a responsibility to pass\nlegislation to aid states hit hardest by the pandemic. But, if they don\u2019t, Cuomo\nsaid fiscal concerns have to be a priority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you\nare broke, it would be irresponsible to do these things,\u201d he said, a statement\nthat prompted a reporter to ask if that meant illegal immigrants have \u201cno shot\u201d\nat receiving government funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, we\u2019re\nlooking at it, but we have real financial problems right now,\u201d responded Cuomo,\nwho noted he already nixed plans to give state workers automatic raises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But his decision is not winning the governor any friends among open borders groups. Make the Road NY, the activist group behind driver\u2019s licenses for illegal aliens, posted a statement<\/a> in response to Cuomo, in their words, \u201cdismissing the idea of providing direct relief for immigrant\u201d New Yorkers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is\nfrankly outrageous that Gov. Cuomo refuses to meet the urgent needs of\nimmigrant NYers,\u201d said Co-Executive Director Javier Valdes. \u201cWe demand a full\nrecovery for all, which must include direct cash assistance from New York State\nthat prioritizes the needs of undocumented people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a tweet<\/a> a day before the press conference, New York Communities for Change, another radical activist organization, slammed Cuomo for providing \u201cZERO relief for undocumented immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio\u2019s term in office has been marked by giveaways to illegal immigrants from spending $100 million to cover a free health care plan<\/a> for illegal aliens to loosening housing requirements to allow them access to hard-to-get subsidized housing<\/a>. However, Cuomo\u2019s revised budget<\/a> shows he is willing to cut $827 million from critical education programs<\/a>, youth job training programs<\/a>, mandate hiring freezes and delay infrastructure maintenance<\/a>, but not scale back on programs for illegal aliens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n