But as New York struggles to house a growing number of migrants who have arrived in the state from the southern border of the United States, there is simply not enough space at the massive Randall Island complex, which is currently the largest shelter in the city. city for asylum seekers.
So outside the gates of the complex, a handful of people have set up their own tents amid the cold winter temperatures. Many have already exhausted the time they are allowed to be in the city’s official shelter system and have not been able to secure another space in the program or find a place of their own.
“I have many enemies and I don’t recommend any of them to any of that,” said Eliana Trillo, a Venezuelan who slept in the unauthorized camp last week during some of the coldest nights of the year. “The cold gets in from anywhere.”
Nearby, enterprising migrants have set up a rudimentary market at the entrance to the shelter, selling everything from homemade coffee to cigarettes, sneakers and jeans. Although residents are prohibited from cooking in the city’s shelters, some prepared food near a public bathroom, cutting raw meat in the sink of the men’s bathroom, next to urinals and toilets.
“We haven’t found a job yet”
Brayann Ruedas, who was selling $1 cups of coffee on a bitterly cold day this week, said it’s the only thing he and others can do to survive while they wait to receive their work permits.
“Selling coffee, because we haven’t found work yet,” said the 27-year-old Ecuadorian. “We arrive in the winter and in December there is not much work.”
Opened in August, the Randall Island complex — which includes a series of sleeping and eating tents, as well as restroom facilities — is located on a sports field at the southern end of the island, where the Harlem and East rivers meet. . It can be reached by road or via a pedestrian bridge that extends 1.1 kilometers (more than half a mile) into Manhattan.
Violence in shelters
Mariles Rivas, a 36-year-old Venezuelan who has been living on Randall Island for more than a month, said there is simply not enough security to maintain order at the shelter, where the majority of refugees are single men.
“Because of the danger, we were afraid to go back because of what had happened… but we needed to be here. I didn’t want to be colder,” he said as he left the complex with his partner on a cold afternoon this week.
Migrants and their advocates complain that there is little to entertain themselves on the isolated island. A previous version of the camp had a living room with televisions and lockers to store personal belongings, they said.
Dave Giffen, director of the Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy group, said the city has deliberately made life at Randall Island and other migrant shelters as unsustainable as possible in order to deter people from leaving. stay, before which the accumulated frustrations have overflowed.
“If you continually make things more difficult and more uncomfortable and harsh for them, then it’s no surprise when we see people camping in tents on the streets and sleeping on the subway,” he said. “We see people venting their anger and frustration, and we could see even worse outcomes.”
Repercussions for generations
The consequences of these policies will reverberate for generations, warned Diana Ayala, a Democratic New York City Council member whose district in northern Manhattan includes Randall Island.
“When you don’t have that stability, when you don’t have emotional or social support, when you don’t know if you’re going to eat, all of this affects your mind,” he commented.
New York Mayor Eric Adams’ office declined to comment this week on the tent camp or market on Randall Island, but said officials are considering installing metal detectors at that and other migrant shelters. The Democratic administration is also weighing whether to extend hours restrictions imposed at some facilities last week.
“Violence will not be tolerated and any illegality will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said in an emailed statement. She declined to answer follow-up questions.
67,500 migrants under state care
More than 172,400 migrants have arrived and passed through the city’s admission system since spring 2022, according to Adams’ office. Most have since gone elsewhere or become self-sufficient, but there are currently more than 67,500 migrants in state care.
In an attempt to free up more space, the city imposed a 30-day limit on stays at single-adult shelters like those found on Randall Island. People can reapply for accommodation after their time runs out, but they are not guaranteed a bed and have to line up outside in the cold to submit their applications.
Despite the city’s long-standing “right to shelter” measure — a uniquely New York policy that requires authorities to provide emergency housing to anyone who requests it — about 850 people are waiting for a bed in a shelter in one any given night, and the average wait time is nearly nine days, according to the Legal Aid Society, a nonprofit legal support body that has been one of the mayor’s most outspoken critics.
Meanwhile, migrants are taking shelter where they can.
Roberto Medina, a Mexican who was selling roast chicken and hot chocolate outside the Randall Island complex this week, said that when his 30-day stay was up, he resorted to sleeping on the subway, like countless others. they have done.
“We have nowhere to go, we have no one to live with,” he commented. “At least I don’t have any family. I had to come because some people wanted to hurt me.”
1/9
Since January, when 2023 was just beginning, Mayor Eric Adams was already announcing that New York City could not contain the enormous number of immigrants arriving in the Big Apple. He even traveled to El Paso, Texas, to discuss the issue.
Credit: AP
2/9
New York City had spent around $360 million dollars at the beginning of the year to address the immigration crisis, which is why it called on federal authorities to obtain more resources. However, he never got solutions.
3/9
Schools, churches, prisons, hotels and gyms, among other venues, were set up to provide shelter to the wave of immigrants arriving in New York City. Some Samaritans, by their own decision, offered their homes to provide shelter.
Credit: AP
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4/9
In May, the iconic Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan was reopened and enabled to provide shelter to dozens of immigrants. However, New York City remained understaffed and underfunded. This caused many to sleep on the streets.
5/9
Given the arrival of more immigrants and the emergency in which several counties, such as Rockland, declared themselves to not accept them, the mayor of New York undertook a tour of Latin America to address the immigration issue. He also visited the Darien jungle.
6/9
In mid-October, Mayor Eric Adams announced that immigrant families with children could only stay in shelters for 60 days, having to apply for a new period in the shelter. Likewise, asylum seekers who were alone had the right to 30 days.
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7/9
In November, Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn was opened as a shelter for immigrants. The Adams administration prepared it with rooms, bathrooms, medical care and food, however, asylum seekers noted that they were in an isolated area that prevented them from emerging.
8/9
On December 27, Mayor Eric Adams announced measures to control the arrival of immigrants in New York City. This after five buses suddenly arrived, full of new asylum seekers. They all came from Philadelphia, and initially from Texas.
9/9
On December 28, a record 14 buses carrying migrants arrived in New York City. Most were located at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan and more were expected to arrive that night.
1/7
After the end of Title 42, one of the main measures that New York City took to house the massive number of refugees arriving in the Big Apple was to open school gyms. One of them was public school 188, in Coney Island.
Credit: Joaquín Torres
2/7
During his decision-making amid the immigration crisis, Mayor Eric Adams announced that the Roosevelt Hotel would provide about 1,000 rooms for immigrants.
Credit: Univision 41
3/7
The former Lincoln Correctional Center in Harlem was also reopened and transformed into a shelter for migrants. On June 1, it received the first asylum seekers, of the 500 it hopes to shelter.
Credit: Univision 41
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4/7
Two days after the immigrants arrived at the old Harlem prison, they had to be evacuated due to the alleged bursting of pipes. Some asylum seekers were taken to Albany and others to a former Catholic church in the East Village.
5/7
An aircraft warehouse at JFK International Airport would be one of the spaces to continue locating immigrants, analyze Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul. However, the Immigrant Coalition does not see it as a good alternative.
6/7
According to local authorities, more than 65,000 immigrants have arrived in New York and are occupying half of the hotels, which is also affecting tourism and, in turn, the local economy.
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7/7
With the aim of making things a little easier for undocumented immigrants recently arrived in the Big Apple, the organization “Se Hace Camino al Andar” and New York University launched a manual that offers them information about the health and housing systems.
2024-01-27 18:29:00
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