The asylum-seeker crisis continues in New York City—more than 45,000 people have arrived since last year. To provide temporary housing, the city is set to open up another emergency shelter hotel in Queens but advocates insist that is not enough.
The Wingate by Wyndham Hotel in Long Island City, Queens, will be the city’s seventh Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center (HERRC). The center will provide 144 rooms for families with children. Other HERRCs include the Row NYC, Stewart Hotel, and Watson Hotel.
After 10 months of dealing with the crisis, tensions are running understandably high for city government officials, homeless individuals, and newly arrived people. At the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and again at the Watson Hotel, male migrants staged a bit of a standoff when told they would be moved to a different facility. They were worried about holding down jobs amid relocations and being in inadequate “tents” during winter weather.
“Whenever we talk about moving people around, there’s going to be a natural response,” said Abdullah Younus, New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) senior director of advocacy.
Younus said HERRCs do fine in addressing the immediate needs for asylum seekers, but more permanent solutions for housing in general are necessary. At its root, the issue is about shelter and affordability for both longtime New Yorkers and the new ones, he said.
“I think anytime a leader finds themselves pointing to one group of people as the reason for the ills of another group of people, and when those groups actually are just people being squeezed by oppressive forces related to austerity, we’re talking about poor people and immigrants that are arriving here,” said Younus. “I think it should probably be considered. There are better ways to talk about what we are navigating right now, and pitting groups against one another is never a good idea.”
In addition to advocating for asylum seekers, NYIC is prioritizing passing the Access to Representation Act (ARA), which provides an attorney for any person facing deportation who can’t afford one. Younus suggested the city also expand the CityFHEPS program, a rental assistance supplement, and streamline communication between government agencies.
Younus feels that the immigration movement, while incremental, has been “making progress.”
“New York City is a beacon of hope to anyone searching for better opportunities for their families, particularly those escaping war, persecution, and political oppression,” said Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol in a statement. “With the opening of the latest humanitarian relief center for families in Long Island City, New York City and Mayor Adams are ensuring that these new families receive the help they need as they pursue their dreams.”
The Adams administration has been criticized for its handling of the crisis so far, but the mayor seems committed to providing more support to arriving asylum seekers. Governor Kathy Hochul has pledged at least $1 billion in her state budget to support asylum-seeker housing and emergency shelters. In his testimony about Hochul’s budget before the state legislature, Adams asked the state and federal government for more financial aid to curb the crisis in the long term.
“New York City is caring for more asylum seekers than any other city in the United States,” said Adams in a statement. “As the number of asylum seekers who have moved through our intake process in the last 10 months has now surpassed the total number of people who were in the city’s shelter system when I took office, it’s clear that New York City is in dire need of more support from our federal partners.”
Adams also said that the burden of “right to shelter” is not just the city’s to bear but the state’s as well.
NYIC is mobilizing across the state throughout the budgeting season to put pressure on the city and state to provide more resources on immigration issues.
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.