The two contenders in the special election to replace the ousted former Rep. George Santos — Republican Nassau County Legislator Mazi Pilip and former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi — held dueling press conferences outside a migrant shelter in eastern Queens on Thursday.

"The third congressional district residents worry about our border crisis," Pilip said outside of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center.

The special election for New York's Third Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Nassau County and a silver of Queens, is set for Feb. 13.

Both candidates argued the others’ respective party was failing to address the flow of migrants crossing the southern border, with tens of thousands ending up in New York City shelters. Often those shelters, like the one outside Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, are makeshift and hobbled together. Pilip, alongside Long Island Congressman Anthony D'Esposito, blasted the migrant site, claiming it brought drugs and alcohol to the neighborhood.

“The safety of our families is clearly at risk, not to mention the cost of funding migrant services,” Pilip said. The Israeli military veteran noted she was a legal immigrant and cited recent high-profile incidents of violence at migrant facilities and local resident complaints about migrants.

"There have been reported intimidating encounters with migrants who have demanded money and harassed children and engaged in public drinking and drug use."

Pilip claimed her opponent was to blame for the country's immigration crisis.

"He created this problem. He supported President Biden 100% of the time,” she said. “As the county executive he was very proud about that."

Minutes later, Suozzi pushed back on her claims.

"In 2007, ICE came to Nassau County with 96 warrants and they refused to coordinate with the Nassau County Police Department and it turns out that 90 of the 96 warrants had the wrong address and they broke down the doors and went into peoples’ houses that had nothing to do with the warrants they are trying to execute," he said.

The comment was in response to both Pilip and national republicans using his own words against him in. A new ad from the Congressional Leadership Fund, a GOP super pac, has Suozzi speaking directly to the camera, saying: “When I was county executive of Nassau county I kicked ICE out of Nassau County."

Suozzi released his own ad this week in response, using an apperance on Fox News where he defended immigration law enforcement authorities. On Thursday, he said Republican dysfunction in Washington was exacerbating the crisis.

“We've had a problem on our border that started 35 years ago, we have not addressed the issue of the border for 35 years,” Suozzi said. “The border crisis on our southern border is also a Washington,. D.C., crisis. Because nobody's cut a deal nobody's negotiated to actually solve this problem. We've been trying to weaponize it for political purposes for decades.”

On Wednesday, a border policy deal that would include funding for Ukraine and Israel’s war efforts, among other initiatives, appeared to be on the verge of falling apart after former President Donald Trump began pressuring Republicans to abandon negotiations.

“President Trump said, 'I don't want you to make a deal on the border, because it would give a victory to Biden and I couldn't use it as a political issue,’” Suozzi said.

At Pilip’s press conference, D’Esposito wouldn’t commit to supporting the deal being negotiated in the Senate. Pilip did not express an opinion beyond touting a House GOP plan proposed last year that Democrats vehemently opposed and President Joe Biden pledged to veto if it ever reached his desk.

“My position is as Congressman D’Esposito said, over 200 days ago they submitted a plan how to protect our borders and nobody did anything,” Pilip said. “We have to see what the deal is and that we should have a deal first and most to protect our borders. It’s no yes or no.”

Also on Wednesday, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis held a press conference at Floyd Bennett Field, where the airfield is being used to house migrants. Malliotakis, who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, is currently in a safe Republican district, but a new round of redistricting may redraw the map to be more favorable to a potential Democratic challenger.