Migrants camp outside New York, right-to-shelter policy under lens

Many Venezuelans had entered through the southern border last year

The top hotels in New York this week saw dozens of migrants hanging out waiting for a chance to go inside for shelter.

Reports suggest more than 116,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since April 2022. The administration has been struggling to respond as people from all over the world have arrived, sometimes by the hundreds each week. Under the mandate, homeless families with children who arrive at a shelter before 10 pm must be given a shelter the same night, and single adults must be taken in within a day.  According to a report in The Washington Examiner, the city will spend $12 billion in nearly three years in response to the thousands of illegal immigrants that the sanctuary city hosts.

New York City mayor Eric Adams recently warned that the city could be “destroyed” if it doesn’t get more help to support the influx of migrants. “Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this,” the mayor said at a town hall earlier in September.

Former US president Bill Clinton said the law needs to be amended in light of the migrant crisis. City officials told Daily Mail that they expect the number of asylum seeker population to reach nearly 33,980 households this fiscal year. According to reports, New York City is likely to spend $1.365 billion to house migrants in the next three years, according to a new report.

Also read: Australia hikes Proof of Finance for student visa applications

Who are these migrants?

A report by Hindustan Times stated that since Joe Biden took office in early 2021, the Border Patrol agents have apprehended roughly six million who entered illegally through Mexico. According to The New York Times, many Venezuelans had entered through the southern border last year.  Over seven million refugees and migrants had left Venezuela as of February 2023.  It’s the second-largest external displacement crisis in the world, according to the UN commission. Also, reportedly, a large number of migrants have also been coming from African nations.  They also come from other Latin American and Caribbean countries such as Cuba, Haiti, Guatemala, and Nicaragua; and African countries such as Senegal and Guinea. The city has been housing migrants in hotels, once-vacant office buildings, school gyms, and emergency shelters on Randall’s Island.

Solution

The Biden administration had recently urged New York to provide better information to migrants about the immigration process and to expedite their departure from city shelters. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) team came up with four main suggestions, including a call for the city to improve the information it collects on migrants and renewed efforts to give them information on how to apply for work permits and leave the local shelter system. According to CBSNEWS, the department also suggested that the city provide lawyers and case managers to migrants across shelters.