The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, led by U.S. Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), took a delegation on an assessment tour of various facilities in New York City designated to support and house recently arrived asylum seekers.
The delegation included Congressmembers Nydia Velazquez, Jerrold Nadler, and Jamaal Bowman, among others. They held a meeting with the press outside of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan on September 15, but were quickly overwhelmed by the horde of anti-immigrant protesters screaming at them from behind police barriers.
The counter-protesters held up signs reading “Americans First” and claimed that “illegal alien” applications aren’t truly petitioning for asylum. They called AOC and Espaillat socialists and corrupt “un-Americans.”
“Since spring 2022, New York City has welcomed around 110,000 migrants and has opened over 200 emergency shelter sites to support these new arrivals. What we are witnessing in New York City is happening in communities around the nation, and we must address this crisis head on to ensure federal support of newly arrived families,” said Ocasio-Cortez and Espaillat in a joint statement.
Espaillat said that they are collectively urging for additional federal resources, extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and work authorizations to support migrant families.
He said the congressional delegation went to the city to see the situation on the ground for themselves. “The purpose of my member trip is to show how New York City has risen to the occasion to care for its newest arrivals, while making clear—we need more federal help,” said Espaillat.
In a letter, Espaillat asked Congress to authorize $3 billion in emergency funding to assist cities across the nation that are also dealing with housing asylum seekers and to expedite work authorization to new migrants.
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.
