New Jersey considered $5 million to handle migrant influx but didn't follow through, records show

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration considered setting aside $5 million in federal Covid-19 aid for a “rapid response plan” for migrants coming into the state from the southern border last summer but the plan never came to fruition, according to records and his office.

That proposal, mentioned in a June application to use relief funds and obtained by POLITICO through a public records request, was in anticipation of “an influx” of migrants with the lifting of so-called Title 42 restrictions a month earlier. New Jersey is seeing migrants bused to the state en route to New York City, although it is unclear what level of state involvement there will be. The Democratic governor said Wednesday the arrivals by bus from Texas the past week is “a manageable situation” and stressed that most migrants were not staying in the state.

The records offer a glimpse how the Murphy administration could address migrants entering the state should the situation escalate. The Title 42 policy, which was started by the Trump administration and carried through the Biden administration until May 2023, allowed for asylum-seekers to be turned away at the southern border on public health grounds. That happened an estimated 2 million times while the policy was in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As a result of the federal [public health emergency] ending, Title 42 has also been rescinded,” the application, signed by the state Department of Human Services' acting chief financial officer at the time, said. “Border arrivals are expected to increase and NJ is on the top list of states for migrant arrivals. This plan has been put in place in the event NJ receives an influx of migrant arrivals by bus or other means."

Murphy spokesperson Tyler Jones, referring to the $5 million requested by Human Services, said in a statement to POLITICO that “to date, no American Rescue Plan funds have been distributed for this purpose.”

Twenty-six buses carrying about 1,200 migrants from the southern border have been sent to train station stops in New Jersey the past week, Murphy said Thursday at an unrelated event, to sidestep New York City rules limiting when bused migrants can arrive there.

It has highlighted the gridlock in Washington on immigration reform while forcing Democrats to live up to their rhetoric embracing immigrants or risk appearing hypocritical to voters who will decide the presidency and control of the House in November. New York Mayor Eric Adams, for example, has said migrants are draining city resources and will “destroy” his city, and his public criticism of Biden has severely damaged the relationship between the Democratic president and mayor of the country’s largest city.

The major Democratic-led cities of New York and Chicago have been popular destinations for Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and even Democrat-run governments to send migrants over the last year. Local orders over the past month in those two cities have restricted arrival times for bused migrants, leading buses to drop them off in neighboring municipalities as a workaround.

Long before the publicized migrant drop-offs at train station stops in New Jersey, though, state officials planned for “an influx” of migrants.

The application from DHS proposed spending the $5 million to help coordinate “mass shelter activities including shelter, food, crisis counseling and as needed wrap-around social services for newly arrived individuals.”

“Funds will be utilized to support these activities in the event this plan is activated,” the application said.

The $5 million pales in comparison with what other Democratically controlled governments have spent on the migrant crisis. Chicago recently set aside $95 million in federal pandemic moneyto address migrants sent to the city. New York City is expected to spend a total of $12 billion on migrants over the course of three fiscal years and has said federal assistance has fallen short of demand.

The New Jersey application also mentions a “migrant task force” put together by the governor’s office, although the existence of such a task force has not been publicly acknowledged and the governor's office declined to comment on it.

That proposal came about two months before the Biden administration considered a South Jersey airport as a potential relocation spot for migrants from New York City, which Murphy — who once said New Jersey would be a “sanctuary state” under his watch — said was not feasible.

Murphy’s office declined to comment on whether such a proposal could come back or if it has resurfaced due to migrants passing through the state en route to New York City.

Murphy, when asked by a reporter Wednesday whether he had a plan to deal with more migrants coming into the state, said: “There is a plan in place, and that is that New York City has the federal resources in place.”

Adams’ office did not seem to agree. “While we are grateful for the help our federal partners have provided thus far, simply put, it’s not enough,” Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said in a statement to POLITICO. “We need meaningful financial help, expedited work pathways, and a national resettlement strategy.”

Murphy has been diplomatic with his public comments about immigration, saying it’s shameful Congress has not addressed much-needed reform while also decrying the actions of Abbott.

"The last thing we need is governors like Greg Abbott doing political stunts,” he said. “This is not a time for stunts, this is a time to figure out a solution that's broad and comprehensive.”

A spokesperson for Abbott, in a statement to POLITICO, said Murphy should redirect his frustration towards Biden.

“Instead of complaining about migrants passing through New Jersey on the way to their final destination in New York City, Governor Murphy should call on his party leader to finally do his job and secure the border — something he continues refusing to do,” Abbott spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement. “Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue transporting migrants to sanctuary cities to help our local partners respond to this Biden-made crisis.”