This week, New York City (NYC) Mayor Eric Adams announced his intention to close the migrant shelter on National Park Service (NPS) Land at Floyd Bennett Field next month. House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) issued the following statement in response:

"Since the moment we first learned of this misguided and disastrous plan to house migrants on national park service property, Committee Republicans have done everything in our power to fight back against this shameful desecration of our precious outdoor spaces and national parks. Today's announcement is the outcome we all expected from this incredibly poor attempt to cover up for the Biden-Harris administration's failures at the southern border. Now we must ensure the City of New York holds up to its end of the bargain, shutting down the camp, upholding their obligations under the lease and returning the National Park Service lands to a better state than before the lease began."

Background

On Dec. 10, 2024, NYC Mayor Eric Adams announced his intention to close the migrant encampment at Floyd Bennett Field.

The Biden-Harris administration established a migrant encampment at Floyd Bennett Field, in the Gateway National Recreation Area in New York City (NYC) on Sept. 14, 2023. In September 2024, the NPS announced an extension of the original lease for an additional year.

On Sept. 18, 2023, Chairman Westerman led members on a site visit to NYC where they saw a migrant processing center and examined the proposed location for the migrant camp. Following this trip, the House Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing on Sept. 27, 2023, to hear directly from local officials, address their concerns and condemn the unprecedented action by the Biden administration to use national park land for a migrant encampment. 

The committee has also advanced legislative solutions like H.R. 5283, the Protecting our Communities from Failure to Secure the Border Act of 2023, which prohibits federal funding from being used to house illegal immigrants on any federal lands. The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5283 on Nov. 29, 2023.

The committee has launched a thorough investigation into the FBF lease, which involves requests for document productions, briefings and interviews from several federal agencies, including NPS, the Department of Homeland Security, the Council on Environmental Quality and White House officials. On Aug. 9, 2024, Chairman Westerman issued a subpoena to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for documents related to the establishment of the encampment and lease agreement with NYC. The lengthy and thorough investigation by the committee of the Biden-Harris decision to lease FBF as a migrant camp has directly pointed back to the involvement of the White House as key in the decision.

Today's announcement is a direct result of the committee's efforts to hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable and serves as an important reminder of the power of congressional oversight.