Dear friends,
The situation facing newly arrived migrants is one of the sprawling issues that I have struggled to address. Luckily, I’m not the only one trying to figure out what we should be doing.
The most helpful analysis of the issues facing New York City and the migrants who continue to arrive here is a report from Make the Road New York, called “Displaced and Disconnected,” which surveyed more than 750 recent arrivals this year.
Only 3 percent of those surveyed had received work authorization, an issue that both the mayor and the governor have called on the president to address. As the report notes, without employment, migrants are stuck in the shelter system.
Call on the president to expedite work authorization for asylum seekers and send New York more resources to address the needs of new arrivals.
Clearly, the city’s housing shortage coupled with the right-to-shelter mandate contribute to the challenge of finding appropriate housing for both migrants and long-time city residents.
The city’s Independent Budget Office issued a report this week that more than 13,000 rent-stabilized apartments were kept vacant for more than a year. This practice could be addressed by a vacancy tax.
The city and housing advocates are fighting the state on that argument in court.
Just three counties — Erie, Monroe and Albany— are working with city officials to take in asylum-seekers; in most cases, NYC is paying for shelter outside the city while also sheltering almost 60,000 asylum-seekers within the five boroughs.
[T]he city is suing 30 counties for using executive orders to prevent migrants from arriving.
The governor can no longer pretend that this situation is not everyone’s problem.
Call on Governor Hochul to declare a state of emergency and to require the state’s other counties to accept asylum seekers.
Part of the reason I’ve been avoiding writing about the challenges of addressing the migrant crisis is that they are so complex. The finger-pointing by government officials across levels of government (and obviously, across party lines) is exhausting. There is a grievous failure on the federal level to pass needed immigration reforms.
Mayor Adams is right to call for state and federal leadership and support. His attempt to ditch the right-to-shelter mandate is shameful, and while the city is indeed failing to meet the mandate, it is altogether different to abandon the principle — and the people.
A few months ago, a very defensive Eric Adams responded to critics by wondering aloud if they had gone to DC to ask for funds. At the same time, organizations and volunteers who have been actively working to address the crisis and meet the needs for food and shelter have criticized the Administration’s decision to cut them out of intake operations.
Tell Mayor Adams that you support the right-to-shelter mandate, as well as the support that will make it possible for the city to meet it.
If you are in direct contact with migrants, you can print and share Make the Road’s Casita Resource Guide, published this month. Right now, I only see a copy in English; I expect there will be a Spanish language version forthcoming.
Learn more about Make the Road New York, join their mailing list, and support their excellent work!
The resource guide contains a tremendous amount of helpful information about accessing health care, education, food, and identification. In addition to labor rights, the guide has also has extensive information about dealing with ICE and accessing legal resources.
If you haven’t had much direct contact with asylum-seekers and would like to, consider getting involved with TLC New York, a project of Grannies Respond/Abuelas Responden
Team TLC New York operates a free store in midtown and you can volunteer at the store or volunteer to do legal triage.
One of the joys of my life is volunteering with the Brooklyn Public Library to facilitate English conversation groups. I’m not helping new arrivals, because my online group attracts folks with a secure internet connection. Nonetheless, it is a pleasure to help people practice English and a gift to me to get to know them.
Volunteer with the Brooklyn Public Library to coach young readers, lead conversation groups, tutor, and so much more.
with love,
L