The migrant situation in the City That Never Sleeps is going from bad to worse.
Despite belonging to the same party, New York City officials have not held back in criticizing the Joe Biden administration for failing to provide the city with the resources to house and care for the tens of thousands of illegal migrants who have arrived due to the White House’s border policies.
The clock is now ticking, as New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol warns child migrants may soon be forced to sleep on the streets since the city’s housing capacity is absolutely maxed out.
As The New American previously reported, adult migrant men are now sleeping on the streets of Manhattan upon cardboard boxes. But the possibility of children having to sleep out on the street has the city under even greater worry.
“I can’t think of any other emergency of this scope and scale where we had turned around and asked for help and been denied,” Iscol told Politico in reference to the administration’s attitude of dragging its feet on the issue so far.
Over 93,000 new migrants have set foot in New York City since last spring — and more than half of these are still under the city’s care. Democratic Mayor Eric Adams lays the blame on the administration for failing to provide New York with sufficient money, and for being slow to grant work authorization for the migrants.
Meanwhile, the White House has passed the buck to Congress, saying that the Legislature, not the presidency, must come up with a solution.
The New American previously reported that the number of asylum-seeking migrants being taken care of by the city has surpassed the number of homeless New York residents under municipal care.
According to Adams, the $135 million he has received from the federal government is not nearly enough to cover New York’s many needs amid the migrant crisis. And the shortage of lodging is compelling city policymakers to consider every possibility.
For example, Adams has floated the idea of paying homeowners and landlords to house migrants in spare rooms.
Camille Rivera, a Democratic consultant, is one of many in her party pushing for private businesses and homeowners to take in migrants with the assistance of the state government.
“There are spaces and there are opportunities to make space for people,” Rivera told Politico. “This is an operational juggernaut and intake is hard, but this is New York City, and you do what you need to do to make sure people are taken care of.”
Given the severity of the situation, nothing appears to be off limits. New York’s famous Central Park is one of several green spaces Adams is considering using as a location to put up migrant tents.
“Is it like we have active plans to move into Central Park right now? No,” Iscol told Politico. “Is there a universe where we end up using Central Park? Yeah, for sure.” He added that the city keeps a list of over 3,000 possible sites.
To meet the huge demand, the city has created 12 Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers and 176 shelter sites. An extension of contracts for 10 navigation sites (and the opening of an 11th) alone will be costing New Yorkers an additional $2.3 million.
Politico reporters on the scene in New York provided a glimpse of the conditions on the ground, where a number of diverse locations have been reworked into makeshift shelters for migrants:
There are distinguishing accommodations at the respite centers: a lawn turned into makeshift parking for delivery bikes, a room laden with Muslim prayer rugs and a so-called cooling room because one building lacks air conditioning.
At what once was St. Margaret Mary church in Astoria, Queens, cots fill the chapel as well as the offices and classrooms. There are no showers on site, so migrants must walk 15 minutes to facilities at the temporarily closed pool at Astoria Park.
At a nearby respite center, called Judo because it used to be a martial arts studio, there are three showers for the 300 men there.
In a policy that mirrors actions he has criticized by the Republican administrations of Texas and Florida, Adams has enacted a program of transporting migrants out of the city to other counties, other states, and even other countries.
New York City spent approximately $50,000 between April 2022 and April 2023 for the resettlement of 114 migrant families.
The top destination for these relocations was Florida, which took 28 families. Texas, with 14 families, came in second place. In third place was North Carolina, which received six families. In total, New York City’s Department of Social Services assisted with travel to 64 cities in 27 states.
Adams’ administration even purchased migrants plane tickets to foreign nations such as Colombia, China, Peru, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
Given how much Democrats screeched about alleged “kids in cages” during the Trump administration, will the visuals of migrant children on the streets in New York spur enough outrage to get Joe Biden to put an end to the self-inflicted border crisis?
To learn more about the immigration crisis and what can be done about it, click here.
