“How do we have a large body of people in our city and country that are excellent swimmers and at the same time we need lifeguards?”
On Tuesday, Eric Adams suggested the many vacant lifeguard positions across New York City could be filled by illegal immigrants.
The mayor claimed that those who entered the United States unlawfully would be perfect for the job because they're "excellent swimmers."
"If we had a migrant and asylum seeker plan that states those jobs that we are in high demand we could expedite," Adams said during a press briefing. "How do we have a large body of people in our city and country that are excellent swimmers and at the same time we need lifeguards?"
He suggested that "the only obstacle is that we won't give them the right to work to become a lifeguard," adding, "that just doesn't make sense."
This isn't the first time Adams has floated the idea of having illegal immigrants become lifeguards.
"What's important here … is allowing people to work," he said in March on GMGT Live's The Reset Talk Show, "and the irony of it is that we have so many jobs that are open, everything from lifeguards to food service workers to nurses to all these other groups."
"There's so many places that we need workers and we have this willing and able body of people that because of federal laws are unable to work," he added.
With New York City's 50 miles of beaches and over 50 pools set to open for the summer this Memorial Day weekend, officials are doing everything they can to ensure that there is a lifeguard in every chair.
As the Daily Mail reports, in 2023 the Parks Department saw applications fall, and have since increased wages to try and entice people to fill the positions.
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