Only 800 of New York’s tens of thousands of illegal immigrants have applied for work authorization

AOC and other Democrats staged a press conference outside midtown Manhattan's Roosevelt Hotel on Friday to speak about work authorizations, more federal funding, and the American dream, but they were shouted down by constituents who very clearly want the border closed.

According to New York Post, only 800 adult-aged illegal immigrants have filed the necessary paperwork required to obtain work visas which will allow them to start earning a legal wage. Data shows that there are roughly 60,000 illegal immigrants currently residing in the Big Apple.

As New York City is being overrun with illegal visitors, Democrat Mayor Eric Adams has made it one of his top priorities to fast-track them into obtaining work authorizations which would help ease the estimated $12 billion strain on NYC taxpayers. But Adams' plan doesn't seem to be working and authorities have not yet revealed the exact amount of illegal immigrants that would legally be eligible to work.

Democrat Councilman Bob Holden of Queens strayed from the party line and said the city's illegal immigration crisis is "showing that government — no matter what level, city, state and federal — isn't cut out to handle this."

It's "almost like watching paint dry," Holden added, according to the outlet.

On top of the only 800 migrants applying for work visas, only one-quarter of the 60,000 have applied for asylum.

The Big Apple, which has come under fire from the state and the federal government for failing to collect adequate information on migrants under its care, just began last week to gather information on who is eligible for employment among the population dispersed throughout the more than 200 temporary shelters located throughout the city.

Democrat Councilwoman Diane Ayala, who represents Manhattan and The Bronx, blamed the Adams administration for "mismanagement" which has exacerbated the crisis.

"The issue here is a lot of mismanagement, you’ve got too many hands in the pot," Ayala told the Post. "Everything that comes out of this administration changes from day to day."

Over the past few months, Mayor Adams has slammed the Biden White House for failing to assist with the crisis that the President has caused at the hands of his open border policies.

Speaking on the city tracking migrants, Adams said on Thursday: "People are critiquing how we managed the work papers, and the people who are critiquing them are seeing thousands upon thousands of people come into our country and end up in New York City?"

"So a crisis that is created nationally we're looking at a local city to solve it?" Adams questioned.

The White House, on the other hand, has not taken responsibility for the crisis; instead, the Biden administration has attacked the city and the state for how they handled tracking illegal immigrants and placed blame on Congress for not fixing immigration laws, the outlet reports.

The tracking of migrants by the city was criticized by a federal assessment team that was sent to New York City last month, but City Hall has slammed their criticism.

Over the past year, Mayor Adams has declared a state of emergency over the illegal immigration crisis and has called for the city to revoke its "sanctuary" status. At a Town Hall earlier this month, Adams insisted that the crisis will "destroy New York City."