New York City’s population has increased expansively as immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean have fled their home countries looking for freedom. Officials are struggling to find room in the overflowing homeless shelters. Many fingers are pointed in different directions for the blame; however, New York is learning to cope.
This migration has cost New York City. According to the New York Times, “Mayor Eric Adams has called it a humanitarian crisis that will cost the city about $12 billion over three years. In the fall, he declared a state of emergency. In recent weeks, city officials have said they are running out of room.” Adams blames the government for not providing any funding or work authorization, claiming that President Biden has failed his duty by not helping. Adams has also traveled to the countries where most immigrants are coming from to discourage them from seeking refuge in New York City as there is no more room.
As the weather gets colder, worries about housing are increasing. The New York Times states, “It’s the second largest external displacement crisis in the world, according to the U.N. commission.” Numbers will be as high as 121,300 in homeless shelters at the end of November. Many of these numbers come from Venezuela,as 7 million out of 29 million in that country have fled.
The city itself has had to adapt to these numbers. They have turned hotels into migrant intake centers to provide extra rooming. School gymnasiums, emergency tent shelters, office buildings, and psychiatric hospital parking lots have all had to convert into homeless shelters. Adams has even debated using cruise ships. The New York Times states, “In all, the city had opened more than 214 shelter sites, including 18 humanitarian relief centers, for asylum seekers by September.”
Since this has shown only limited relief, Adams has asked judges to remove the legal obligation for sheltering but was only able to suspend it the past spring. Instead, he requires every single adult to reapply at the homeless shelters every 30 days.
Migrants are applying for asylum, which provides safety and protection for immigrants. This process, however, can take up to three to four years. After filling out an application, migrants can also apply for temporary working authorization. Five thousand six hundred applications were submitted by mid-October. Caseworkers are helping migrants enroll their children into schools and find lawyers. Many have found jobs; however, they’re still undocumented.
With more than 200,000 migrants fleeing to New York City, officials hope to find solutions for this major influx and continue to use temporary solutions to keep numbers under control.