The Hidden Crisis of New York City
“By implementing more policies that provide migrants with equitable and fair treatment, and better housing, New York City would further embrace its migrant population and the full potential of migrant communities.”
Recently on Instagram, a video showed 2,000 illegal migrants being transported by 20 buses to stay in a NYC high school. Tyler Oliveira, the interviewer, asked someone how many migrants are currently in the city. The person responded with “Around 160,000.” He then added: “60,000 are in the care of New York City facilities or shelters or hotels.”
“How does it feel stealing our tax money!” shouted a local, as the migrants walked towards the high school of the students that were ‘booted’ out of in order to give them all a place to sleep. Someone commented “They should be back where they belong.” Another said: “My kid deserves to be in school.”
A crowd of people chanted. “Close the border!” mostly due to the overflow and potential mass deportation of migrants. This is the reason why they have to take up space that isn't meant for them such as schools and hotels. Originally, migrants were kept at shelters and government held areas. They believe that the city isn’t doing what they should be doing in order to keep migrants safe and sanitized.
Some of the comments under the video stated:
“This is f**king disgusting”
“Much as I care for the people…If we let wrong people in[,] stuff will go left”
“Didn’t vote for sanctuary city? Maybe in the next election you will vote republican then."
NYC Migrant Process
64,000 migrants are seeking asylum to stay in New York City. According to one source, asylums are: “a form of protection that allows you to stay in the USA if you have been persecuted or fear persecution in your home country because of your race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” NYC knows these people seeking help can’t be left out in the street, especially at this time of year. Using schools temporarily or permanently as well as hotels that aren’t used anymore, helps keep migrants off the streets and offers them comfortable areas.
An article from New York Mag, “The Busiest Basement in Jackson Heights” by Eric Klinenberg, tells an amazing story of a woman who helps and teaches migrants how to move on from her own basement. Instead of the government solely helping migrants, citizens with a good heart try to help as well.
Mayor Eric Adams announced that he is limiting shelter stays for migrant families with children to 60 days, “bidding to ease pressure on a city housing system overwhelmed by a large influx of asylum seekers over the past year.” For migrants without children, those days are 30.
30 days to change someone's life? Impossible. Helping all migrants outside of these shelters is beneficial to their life, but it would be so difficult to control and prevent crowdedness. The city has thousands of migrants in shelters, hotels, and NYC facilities; with so many, there's bound to be overflow.
In an ABC 7 news article, they took a deep dive into NYC’s largest migrant relief center located in Randall island. The island is currently home to three thousand asylum seekers.
“First, the migrants are given a health screening - that includes COVID, a skin exam for varicella or chicken pox, and active tuberculosis.” the source stated. Not only that but they have good comfort. A commissioner for the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, Miguel Castro stated, "We just do not understand why at 100,000 asylum seekers and with this much impact on NYC, the federal government has not responded appropriately.”
With all these diverse opinions on the issue in NYC, is the city doing too much or too little with handling the many, many migrants coming into NYC?
USA and Asylums
Other cities have been built by immigrants, so it isn't a surprise that the US government takes many procedures to help them become legal residents and citizens of America. There is a process to apply for asylum, as well as many requirements immigrants must meet. Although you may apply to asylum regardless of your immigration status, it must be within 1 year of arrival to the USA. There are exceptions to the 1 year policy. These are just a few out of many. According to uscis.gov, “Serious illness and mental or physical disability, including any effects of persecution or violent harm suffered in the past, during the 1-year period after arrival in the U.S.” is an important and real consequence that, even if it is rare, could happen.
Many people who pass the border illegally often don’t apply for asylum, due to many factors such as having family members or friends already living in the states or not wanting to stay in a shelter with thousands of other people every night. Of course many people don’t even reach this point in America. Many don’t even have the passports, papers, as well as visas required to even step a foot in American soil. This is why many pass illegally and try to file for an asylum before anything else happens. “Congress requires the Department of Homeland Security to prevent all illegal entries and has given it authority to quickly remove migrants who enter illegally or come without proper documents.”
The thousands of people who do pass legally, however, don’t need to address their fear of persecution; if you have legal papers, you may do whatever you desire in the United States. This is how many immigrants were able to migrate to different cities in the US to start a new life around the 80s and 90s. This approach remains an appealing option among individuals who are fortunate enough to have visas. Those who don't, but have ample evidence as to why they needed to flee, can only cross at the border.
According to cis.org: “Most who appear in immigration court will file asylum applications, regardless of whether they fear persecution or torture, because that will allow them to seek work permits and remain here indefinitely.” From there, the ones who get cleared are sent to court, further proving how real and important this is to them. If they’re accepted, applying for asylum is the next step.
These are the numbers: “Between July 2021 and July 2022, the department processed 1.079 million migrants stopped at the southwest border...Of that 1.079 million, it cleared just 41,206 to apply for asylum…83% of migrants stopped at the border who claimed a fear of harm were cleared to make asylum claims in court. Fewer than 17% of them received asylum.” That would mean more than “45% never applied for asylum, and 32.5% were ordered removed in absentia when they failed to appear in court.”
Based on these statistics, many migrants have had and are currently having issues being able to receive asylum upon arrival on the southwest border of America. This is why asylum seekers are progressively getting more common throughout the United States.
The Purpose
People who are younger face confusion when being placed with other people who they have no relation with, like adults who just arrived or others who have been there.
“All their focus is on the adult population and they're not taking into account the youth migrants that are coming in,” says Stacy Stewart. “To categorize them and just automatically group them with the adults, I think it's a huge disservice.”
Providers say: “young adult migrants may have never lived on their own before or held a job, and are most likely in the United States alone and without knowledge of some of the resources available to them.”
Do they teach migrants on how to secure their housing, and their possible next steps in the country? Or will they continue to struggle on their own trying to achieve their aspirations once again?
Soundview could repurpose its numerous abandoned buildings into shelters for the many migrants in need. Many other neighborhoods could repurpose their abandoned buildings as well. New York City has a responsibility for managing how diverse and highly dynamic they are. By implementing more policies that provide migrants with equitable and fair treatment, and better housing, New York City would further embrace its migrant population and the full potential of migrant communities.
On a final note, despite the many obstacles faced by migrants such as, but not limited to, language barriers, mistreatment, difficulty securing housing, and many others, their struggles highlight their aspirations to pursue a better life — the American dream.