With Lease Set to Expire, Committee Demands Biden-Harris Administration’s Action Plan on Floyd Bennett Field

Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) led a letter to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Deb Haaland and National Park Service (NPS) Director Charles Sams, following up on the committee's request for the lease termination and a permanent demobilization plan for the migrant encampment at Floyd Bennett Field. In part, the members wrote:

"The Biden-Harris administration chose to throw caution to the wind by ignoring countless voices opposed to leasing FBF [Floyd Bennett Field] to NYC for the unprecedented action of turning National Park land into a migrant camp. As the FBF lease rapidly approaches its expiration date, the Biden-Harris administration's failed experiment must end. The agencies responsible for the lease's execution must clarify their steps to ensure the expedient termination of the lease.

"As you are aware, Section 8 of the FBF lease outlines a series of required improvements, some of which were to begin immediately. The FBF lease requires the tenant to return the areas of the park currently occupied by the migrants to their original condition upon expiration. As part of the demobilization of the migrant camp, the Committee also expects the restoration of all impacted areas, including the wetlands adjacent to the migrant tents, and improvements required by the lease to be completed immediately, so that all may once again enjoy full access to FBF."

Read the full letter here.

Background

After signing a lease with New York City (NYC) in the summer of 2023, the Biden-Harris administration established a migrant encampment at Floyd Bennett Field (FBF), part of the Gateway National Recreation Area in NYC. House Committee on Natural Resources Republicans repeatedly conducted oversight on this abuse of power, including the misuse and denial of access to America's federal lands. The committee has held multiple hearings to hold the Biden-Harris administration accountable and hear directly from impacted communities on the nature of this unprecedented lease agreement.

The committee has also worked on legislative solutions to this problem 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.

Virtually every major concern the committee raised has come to fruition. Widespread reports of criminality in and around the FBF migrant camp include domestic violence, assault, shoplifting, prostitution and panhandling scams. However, Biden-Harris administration officials responsible for FBF mutating into a migrant camp have evaded congressional oversight and accountability.

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, Department of Homeland Security, 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 lease agreement.

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