Bill Clinton calls for migrants to 'begin working, paying taxes and paying their way' in New York City

Clinton said that America's low birth rate requires that the economy be shored up by either 'immigrants or machines'

NYC reportedly extending hotel contracts to house migrants at staggering cost

FOX News' Nate Foy reports from outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan on how the city is handling the migrant crisis as more are expected to arrive. 

Former President Bill Clinton agreed with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Saturday, arguing that New York City’s "Right to Shelter Law" must be changed. 

"Gov. [Kathy] Hochul thinks it should be modified, and it probably should under the circumstances," Clinton told radio host John Catsimatidis on 77 WABC radio’s "The Cats Roundtable" show, as was flagged by the New York Post. 

"It’s broken. We need to fix it," Clinton said, adding that the law "doesn’t make any sense." 

OFFICIALS OF SUBURBAN NY COUNTY FUME AT ERIC ADAMS AFTER 31 MIGRANTS DISCOVERED IN THREE BEDROOM HOUSE

bill clinton calls for migrants to begin working paying taxes and paying their way in new york city

Former President Bill Clinton agreed with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Saturday, arguing that New York City’s "Right to Shelter Law" must be changed.  (Reuters // Getty Images)

The "Right to Shelter" has existed in New York City for over 40 years, and requires sheltering for the homeless. New York is an asylum city.

"They come here, and we’re supposed to shelter people who can’t get work permits for six months. We need to change that," he said, claiming that migrants have a right to begin "paying their way" in American society. 

"They ought to work," Clinton said. "They need to begin working, paying taxes and paying their way. Most of these people have no interest in being on welfare." 

The former president said that America's low birth rate requires that the economy be shored up by either "immigrants or machines."

ADAMS REACTS TO BIDEN ADMIN LEGALIZING THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS AFTER SAYING CRISIS WILL 'DESTROY' NYC

bill clinton calls for migrants to begin working paying taxes and paying their way in new york city

Clinton also called for more housing to be built to hold migrants.  (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Clinton also called for more housing to be built to hold migrants. 

"We should build more housing just over the Rio Grande, and Mexico, I think, would support that," he said. "Keep people there, and let them in as quickly as possible if they are going some place where we know they can get a job and they’ll be welcome."

Clinton claimed that the "chaos" around the migrant crisis has been "very beneficial for the Republicans," especially since the "immigration system that is not well manned and there are not enough facilities along the border."

The former president, a native Arkansan, weighed in on Democratic political losses in New York. 

"But the Democrats lost enough seats in New York because of reaction to the crime problem here and the sense that — we didn’t have — we, my party — didn’t have a good common-sense approach to it," he said, referring to the migrants.

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Jeffrey Clark is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He has previously served as a speechwriter for a cabinet secretary and as a Fulbright teacher in South Korea. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a degree in English and History. 

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Authored by Jeffrey Clark via FoxNews October 2nd 2023