New York City has long been a beacon for millions of foreign-born residents who make their homes and raise their families in the five boroughs.
But a year after a rising number of migrants began arriving with few existing ties, officials are still scrambling to house them, recently setting up rows of cots inside school gymnasiums, busing some people to the northern suburbs and suspending the normal review process for the opening of new shelters.
The latest emergency measures come as Mayor Eric Adams and city leaders prepare for another expected increase in newly arriving migrants following the expiration of Trump-era federal border restrictions put in place early during the COVID-19 pandemic to slow the virus's spread.
Since the colonial period, New York City has attracted people from all over the world. Foreign-born New Yorkers account for about 36% of the city’s population, according to recent Census data.
“New York City and New York state have welcomed immigrants for centuries,” Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, told WNYC’s Brian Lehrer on Monday. “Every year, every month, every day people are coming to New York.”
What makes the current situation unique is that many of the newly arrived immigrants lack “community or familial connections” when they get to the city, prompting them to turn to emergency shelters for brief periods, Awawdeh added.
That’s straining New York City’s safety net programs, which have received little new funding from the federal government to bolster those protections. Various policies, agencies and initiatives have made for a confusing situation.
The mayor’s office says about 65,000 migrants have entered the city since last spring, and roughly half of them reside in homeless shelters or emergency housing. The increase to a system already struggling to adequately house tens of thousands of low-income New Yorkers prompted the Adams administration to rent rooms in about 150 hotels and create an entirely new network of emergency accommodations dubbed “Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers,” or HERRCs.
Over the past year, Adams has consistently called on the federal government to step in and provide aid.
“New York City is being overwhelmed by the financial and number burden associated with the national problem that has been placed on New Yorker's laps,” Adams said on Tuesday during an interview on NY1. “We are not getting the support that we deserve here in New York City.”
But so far, the five boroughs are largely on their own to meet the challenge.
So, how did we get to this point?
Early in the pandemic, then-President Donald Trump imposed rules banning noncitizens from entering the country for public health reasons under a section of federal law known as Title 42. Under the policy, the U.S. quickly expelled millions of migrants looking to enter the country, including asylum-seekers otherwise legally permitted to remain here.
President Joe Biden tried to get rid of Title 42 after taking office last year, but a federal judge blocked the move. Over the past year, hundreds of thousands of people managed to enter the U.S. and, like centuries of immigrants before them, many made their way to New York City — including on buses sent by Republican officials in southern states to protest the president’s border policies.
Municipal agencies aren’t tracking the countries of origin for newly arrived immigrants entering the city’s various shelter systems, but we do know from conversations with dozens of migrants and with immigrants’ rights advocates that a large number hail from Venezuela.
The country on the northern edge of South America is facing instability, political persecution and a devastating economic crisis. It has also severed diplomatic ties with the U.S., leaving migrants and asylum-seekers without consulates in which to seek support or documentation, such as up-to-date passports.
Awawdeh said the number of people from Colombia, Peru, El Salvador and other countries has also risen, along with “folks who are literally fleeing for their lives” from repressive regimes, violence or discrimination.
Title 42’s expiration on May 11 is leading to speculation that even more people will enter the country and make their way to New York City. That has not immediately happened, as border restrictions remain tight.
Still, there’s no telling what states along the southern border will do if and when more people enter, said Harold Solis, the co-legal director at the immigrant rights group Make the Road New York.
Solis said states with conservative governors, like Texas’ Greg Abbott, bear responsibility for treating many migrants as political pawns — at times sending them off to New York City and other northern Democrat-led states under false pretenses.
“States like Texas and anti-immigrant political actors have sent people here without any level of coordination or care for the people who they’ve sent,” Solis said. “That’s very different than a coordinated national plan where we help people resettle and we’re starting to see what the impact of this approach has been.”
What are NYC officials doing?
The five boroughs are home to unique right-to-shelter rules that form the foundation of the city’s safety net and provide the promise of a bed to anyone in need of a place to stay. That includes tens of thousands of recently arrived migrants who have made use of the city’s shelters over the past year.
Last week, Adams issued an executive order suspending some of the right-to-shelter requirements, saying the rules were not established with thousands of migrants in mind. He renewed that order on Tuesday.
Adams has set up about 150 emergency shelters for families, single men and single women inside hotels, school gyms, a cruise ship terminal and massive tents to meet the unprecedented capacity needs. Eight of those shelters are considered HERRCs and are overseen by the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Health + Hospitals rather than the Department of Homeless Services.
His administration also recently began busing some people to hotels in suburban areas north of the city, spurring sharp rebukes and lawsuits from elected officials and some residents there.
Most of the work has fallen on the city, and Adams estimates it will cost around $4 billion over the next two years.
As Gothamist reported earlier this month, the Adams administration is now trying to move from an ad hoc approach to a more coordinated plan for housing and services, though results have been mixed.
His office highlighted a plan to enroll new migrant students and integrate thousands of them into schools. City officials point to the herculean effort of bringing new shelter capacity online and say the city is also working to move more New Yorkers into permanent housing despite a significant staff shortage.
Those moves are “far and away the best strategy for freeing up space” in shelters, said George Nashak, president and CEO of Care For the Homeless, which runs shelters and provides health care services.
“It’s a double bonus,” Nashak said. “You place someone into permanent housing, which is the goal, and you free up space to move someone into transitional housing.”
Yet, the city is still trying to keep pace with the number of people in need of housing, legal assistance and basic necessities, said Solis of Make the Road.
“It’s been rough to see us as a city find the best way to provide services here,” he said. “Many of these people have arrived here with nothing but the clothes on their backs.”
We got less than those who are on the bordering states and the bordering states are using the money, in many cases, that they got to do what? To send buses to New York
What is the federal government doing to help?
Great question!
Not much, and that’s causing a rift between Adams and Biden.
The Federal Emergency Management Administration recently issued just $30 million in direct aid to help New York City manage housing and services for recently arrived immigrants.
“We got less than those who are on the bordering states and the bordering states are using the money, in many cases, that they got to do what? To send buses to New York,” Adams said during an interview on WPIX on Tuesday.
New York City’s congressional delegation is also urging Biden to allow asylum-seekers to obtain legal work permits without first waiting six months.
“New Yorkers want to welcome, and they are ready to gainfully employ many of the new folks that are arriving here,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Documented. “And what we are asking is for the federal government to get out of our way, so that our economy can function and we can integrate new Americans the way New York and New York City always has.”
What about the rest of New York?
It’s every town for themselves, apparently.
New York City’s suburbs have attempted to block or reject migrants bused from New York City by issuing emergency orders or suing to stop the relocations.
“The city is a self-proclaimed sanctuary city; Orange County is not,” said Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus, according to Patch. “We should not have to bear the burden of the immigration crisis that the federal government and Mayor Adams created, and I will continue to fight for Orange County’s residents in regard to this important manner.”
On Tuesday, a state judge issued a temporary order allowing 186 asylum-seekers to stay at two hotels in the Orange County town of Newburgh through June 21, but barred any additional moves.
New York lawmakers set aside $1 billion for New York City’s migrant aid efforts in the recently enacted budget. Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order intended to speed up the cash flow by bypassing certain contracting requirements. She also sent a letter to Biden requesting that FEMA direct the Department of Defense and the National Park Service to help build new shelters for migrants on federal property, including at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.
“Given the size of the humanitarian crisis, the state lacks the infrastructure, facilities, and resources necessary to meet the immediate demand to house and meet other basic needs of the large numbers of migrant arrivals,” Hochul wrote.
Still, she has yet to publicly discourage towns from blocking migrants coming out of New York City and says her administration is looking into the legality of the moves.
So how are everyday New Yorkers pitching in to help?
For much of the past year, New Yorkers have stepped up to greet, feed and even house people just arriving in the five boroughs.
Camille Napoleon, the president of the Baruch Houses Tenants’ Association, runs a donation site at her housing complex and has even allowed several people to stay in her apartment.
Alongside their networks of volunteers, aid workers Adama Bah and Power Malu have continued greeting people at the airports and the Port Authority Bus Terminal and offering them guidance and meals.
And “very strong religious communities” have provided essential services and community connections, said Hunter College professor John Chin, who specializes in urban policy and planning.
Solis, of Make the Road, urged New Yorkers to continue showing empathy and standing up for more welcoming policies.
“New York is special because immigration is really close to most of us here,” he said. “That level of understanding is something ingrained and is going to go a long way when immigrants are being demonized by some folks.”
If you want to get involved, check out a list of resources compiled by the news sites City Limits and Documented.
