APP Local and State Policy

Images of dozens of people outside the Roosevelt Hotel have caused concern in the community, not least among elected officials.

The mayor’s office says that 2,300 new immigrants arrived in the city last week alone and that so far 1,300 immigrants have been helped to present their asylum application.

The mayor visited the Roosevelt Hotel on Wednesday night, which functions as a shelter and information center for many of the immigrants arriving in the city, and spoke with some of them.

In the vicinity of the hotel we spoke with Jason Orlando Gómez, who recently arrived from Venezuela, and we asked him how the authorities have treated him.

Gómez.

“Well, thank God, you know that people don’t want you, but here we are, thank God,” Gomez said.

And he says that he at least comes with the best intentions of having a better life.

“There are many people who come to steal and that’s why some of us just come to work and nothing more, that’s what I’m going to do,” added Gómez.

The possibility of housing migrants in camps on Randall’s Island and Central Park has been mentioned, but authorities say those are only options on the table.

It was also announced that the Asylum Claims Help Center and a consortium of city colleges, led by New York University (NYU), will provide assistance in completing asylum applications with the help of students this fall.

Raul Egas was at the end of the line, he is Ecuadorian and his wife and children are in another shelter, but he slept on the street.

Egas.

I’ve just arrived because they sent me here, some friends gave me the address but I really don’t know what the issue would be like here, if they helped me it would be very good,” said Egas.

Public defender Jumaane Williams also appeared at the Roosevelt Hotel and called on the White House to take action, even saying that he “hoped the president would come and take a tour to see what’s going on.”

Kevin Morales is aware that the shelters are full and told us that some immigrants have been in them for a long time.

“I’m looking to see if they give us support with a ‘shelter’ or some place where we can stay because I don’t have family here or someone to receive me,” Morales said.

And it is that there are already more than 56,000 immigrants who are under the care of the city and they have been distributed in 194 different places and the numbers continue to increase.

According to the authorities, the immediate problem is where to house the new immigrants.

2023-08-03 19:05:00
#dont #family #receive #homeless #immigrant

For days now, recently arrived immigrants have waited day and night outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown hoping to be assigned a bed in the city’s shelter system. And for weeks now, Mayor Eric Adams has said that there is no room anywhere and he is trying to prevent the arrival of more immigrants.

The scene outside the hotel turned migrant shelter and intake center highlights that saturation in the homeless shelter system has reached record levels. City officials and activists alike say the situation is heartbreaking.

But some accuse city officials of cashing in on the lines outside the Roosevelt Hotel for a campaign to demand more resources from the state and federal governments to deal with the crisis and discourage more migrants from entering the United States across the border. south.

“Mayor Adams should not be using asylum seekers as a tool to gain the attention of the Biden administration or discourage asylum seekers from coming to New York,” said Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. York.

He added that the city must do more to free up space in shelters and keep migrants off the streets. “It’s hard to imagine that there aren’t enough beds to house the people the Adams administration is leaving on the streets,” Awawdeh told The Associated Press in a statement.

In a press conference on Thursday, a deputy mayor rejected that assertion.

“I don’t think I or anyone else in this administration would use people for politicking,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom.

He stated that the city has been conducted “with humanity and compassion”, and that the shelter system is at a “breaking point”.

City officials say the number of migrants who have arrived since spring 2022 is approaching 100,000, overwhelming the capacity of the shelter system designed to accommodate tens of thousands fewer people.

Meanwhile. The city has begun turning to state universities for their students to help with the complicated asylum application process for the thousands of immigrants who have come to the city in search of housing and work.

Students who participate in this initiative in the fall will earn credits, added Deputy Mayor Williams-Ison.

The official indicated that shortly after the city opened the Assistance Center for asylum applications a month ago, more than 1,300 immigrants have already been assisted, who have also received help from thirty law firms that do pro bono work. as well as interpreters.

“Throughout this crisis, New Yorkers have made an effort to help their brothers in need and continue to do so,” said the deputy mayor, who was accompanied by representatives of various public and private universities, led by New York University (NYU ).

2023-08-03 11:53:00
#crisis #continues #house #migrants #arrived #NYC