For Yefferson Rojas, the American dream is New York City.
To get here, he described a difficult journey on foot out of Venezuela, first through the jungles of Colombia and Panama. In Nicaragua, he said, men with machetes stole his tent. In Mexico, he recalls a horrifying encounter with drug cartels that attacked and harassed migrants with impunity. He eventually crossed the Rio Grande to the United States with dozens of others. After two months and about 3,000 miles, he arrived in New York City by bus on September 9.
He was hoping to find a job. What he’s found so far is a one-ride MetroCard and a bed at a homeless shelter in Manhattan. Migrants to New York are finding an American city in the midst of a housing and homeless crisis but ill-equipped to help them. For Mr. Rojas, the relief and gratitude he felt after reaching the safety of the United States turned to looming questions about how to make a living in New York. “Nobody tells you about the hard reality of starting here,” he said.
Rojas, 30, is one of more than 19,400 asylum seekers who have arrived in New York since April. Most were put on the bus by local governments in Texas or by statethis was overwhelming and gave people trips to Northern cities instead of letting people stay in state while their requests were heard.
New York, a sanctuary city with a long, if imperfect, tradition of attracting refugees from around the world, should be well positioned to welcome them. Instead, the city was caught off guard by the scale of this flow and have scrambled to respond. New York City’s humanitarian response involved more than a dozen city agencies. Mayor Eric Adams said he predicts that the city will spend $1 billion taking care of newcomers by the end of the city’s fiscal year in June 2023.
This dire situation is the result of Congress failing to build an immigration system that meets the needs of the 21st century, and the failure of cities like New York to build enough new housing for the size and scope of the complex population in need. The federal government sets immigration policy, but states and cities are left to pick up the pieces. Instead of effectively coordinating and working together to develop visionary solutions, some governors and local officials try to score political points. In New York, housing shortages are mounting pressure. “This is really coming back to bite us,” said Anne Williams-Isom, deputy mayor who is leading the city’s response.
Many New Yorkers may still not understand the scale of the flow or demand. Buses arrive almost daily from the southern border, usually at the Port Authority terminal in Midtown Manhattan. City officials estimate it could eventually welcome around 100,000 migrants within the next year, if migration continues at the current rate.
Thousands of asylum seekers, most of them fleeing Venezuela, have entered the city’s protected shelter system at some point since April. City officials believe the actual number of people from Venezuela is higher. Although most were single men, at least 5,000 of the arrivals were school-age children. The city has opened 48 emergency shelters to help meet demand, but the system this month surpassed a daily record of 62,000 won temporary residents – most of whom are local residents.
The city’s nonprofits, including the Coalition for the Homeless and the Legal Aid Association, have joined in to help meet basic needs for those arriving, but there’s much more that the What city, state, and federal officials can do in addition to meeting their humanitarian obligations.
The White House should increase federal funding for local governments responding to the migration crisis. President Biden may also consider shortening the time that asylum seekers have to wait before legally working. Without that permission, they are very vulnerable. Many new Venezuelans describe receiving off-the-books job offers within days of arriving in the city.
New York needs people to fill jobs in its service industries, but while the city’s labor market can attract thousands of new people, the housing market cannot.
The city is planning to open at least two migrant welcome centers, which officials say will allow them to provide services in one place, from medical treatment to casework. But the most immediate priority for Mr. Adams is to attract as many New Yorkers currently in the shelter-in-place system as possible. small reserve of permanent housing available, fast. He can help make that happen by changing or removing city rules that slow that process, such as regulations requiring people to live in shelters for three months before they are eligible for permanent housing. The city also needs to hire more workers to step up enforcement against landlords who break the law by denying tenants with government vouchers and other forms of rental assistance.
Governor Kathy Hochul and the state government also played an important role. Many communities in New York State have been revitalized by newcomers, and she can provide leadership by connecting this new influx of immigrants with communities outside of New York City that will welcome surname. Above all, the crisis should be an opportunity for Mr. Adams and Mrs. Hochul to move on policies to build more housing in New York City and its suburbs. “If we had been doing this for decades, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” said Dave Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless.
Until then, Mr Rojas and thousands of other migrants remain vulnerable in the shelter system, like everyone else living there. The conditions they described, including violence and drug overdoses, were similar to those reported. for several years of New Yorkers.
They are forcing New York and its leaders to answer a difficult question: What kind of city does New York want to be?
