Migrant crisis hits New York. In New York, the “American dream” has sparked a significant crisis. Thousands of immigrants are moving to New York City in search of a better life and more opportunities.
Yet at what price? Putting a serious administrative burden and a housing crisis.
Over 60,000 of the 118,000 migrants who have arrived in New York City since last year have been housed in the city’s shelter system. But it’s difficult for officials to meet their needs.
It has been described as a humanitarian crisis that could “destroy New York City” by Mayor Eric Adams.
The majority of immigrants came to New York from South American and West African nations in search of stability, employment, and safety.
But both the migrants and the local authorities find it difficult to integrate them into a new city.
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The typical accommodations for migrants are hotels, offices, and school gymnasiums. The city administration has been paying for them to stay in cheap hotels, but there are no more places for them.
According to Mayor Adams, who has previously looked into housing migrants in parking lots and cruise ships, the migrant influx could cost $12 billion over the course of three years.
Both Eric Adams and Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, have accused the Joe Biden administration of failing to do enough to address the migrant crisis.
New Yorkers want a humanitarian solution to the problem and the wise use of available resources because they are aware of the serious crisis.
“I’m not sure if New York is a good place to be for somebody who wants to start afresh. There’s a huge housing crisis, so maybe, it’s not the perfect place for immigrants,” opines a woman, an immigrant herself.
Some others think the “American dream” is turning out to be a “nightmare”, but still a lot can be done to help them.
“It’s a crisis even for the people migrating to New York. They are coming from horrible places and switching for opportunities – just like the American dream from so many years ago. The American dream is actually being an American nightmare. New York has very limited space but also a lot of fun space. If we allocate some of those places to help the migrants, that’ll be awesome,” says a New Yorker.
As the migrant crisis hits New York, the migrants are having trouble finding housing in addition to jobs.
They must first obtain a work permit, which can take up to six months to process before they can formally begin working.
They can only work as undocumented workers without a permit, who are frequently overworked and underpaid.
