IN IMAGES, IN PICTURES – The Democratic mayor of the city has called for a “state of emergency” to be put in place to deal with the migration crisis. A request that offends within his camp.
Dozens of people massed on a sidewalk, lying on boxes, have set up a makeshift camp. For several weeks, these images have been circulating virally on social networks. Hundreds of migrants line up outside the Roosevelt Hotel, in the heart of Manhattan. A stone’s throw from the JP Morgan bank headquarters. New York City is currently experiencing an unprecedented migration crisis. The mayor, Eric Adams, declared at the end of July that the reception centers dedicated to migrants were now “saturated“. And if this kind of scenes are unfortunately common these days in cities such as San Francisco or Los Angeles, the phenomenon is new in the Big Apple.
In New York, large migrant camps did not exist until now, while they are common elsewhere in the country, especially on the west coast. And for good reason, the city and the state of New York have unique legislation in the United States regarding people on the street. This law is called the “Right to shelter”which could be translated as “right to shelter“. Dating from a 1981 executive order, this law requires the City and State of New York to “provide board and lodging to anyone on the street who requests it“. Any person present on federal soil can therefore demand to be housed and fed within a reasonable period of time, without any condition of income or nationality. But then, what happens when the city finds itself in the material impossibility of welcoming more people, and therefore, of respecting this decree?
A call to “control the borders”
The city’s mayor, Eric Adams, is a Democrat. A former New York police officer, he became his councilor on January 1, 2022. At the end of July, his speech was very noticed. “New York City has no more room to offer“, solemnly declared the mayor. “And the situation is not going to improve“, he added. He then called on Joe Biden’s government to take strong action, to the delight of Republicans: “We must control our borders“. And to add that it was necessary to “declare a state of emergency and fund this national crisis in a significant way».
Currently, the number of homeless people in New York City is estimated at 80.000according to the association Coalition for the Homeless, a figure up 18% compared to 2022. Due to the saturation of the reception system in New York City, the city is gradually seeing the number of tents in the street multiply. A phenomenon that was almost unknown until then.
93,000 asylum seekers in one year
In question ? A continuous and growing flow of migrants. In the single week of July 10 to 16, “2800 new migrants have arrived in New York“, according to Anne Williams-Isom, deputy mayor in charge of health and social services. In a recent speech, Éric Adams recalled that his city had welcomed 93,000 asylum seekers in one year. Important figures which explain why the reception capacity of the city is exceeded.
«Week after week, the pressure will continue to mount in Washington to [le gouvernement] do something now. Otherwise he must expect there to be an impact on the 2024 elections“, declared a councilor of the town hall of New York to the newspaper Politico .
Read alsoDeserted skyscrapers, depopulated offices, closed restaurants… New York devitalized by remote work
A dissident mayor
Earlier this month, Eric Adams told a press conference that New York City had so far received only $30 million in federal aid for a crisis he said would cost $4. .2 billion by next summer.
On May 23, in view of the crisis, the mayor published A press release announcing that he had filed a request to modify the decree concerning the “Right to shelter». «We in no way seek to end the right to housing“Defends the city councilor. “Since we are unable to provide care to an unlimited number of people and are already overburdened, explains the electedit is in the interest of everyone, including those looking to come to the United States, to be upfront that New York City alone cannot provide care for everyone who passes through our border».
The city has made it a point of honor to recall its commitment over the past year: “For more than a year, New York City has provided – largely on its own – shelter, food, clothing and more to the more than 70,000 migrants who have arrived in our city.The mayor readily admits that “when Callahan’s original consent decree came down nearly 40 years ago, no one could have envisioned, predicted or even imagined such a massive influx of individuals, which has more than doubled in just over a year .“And despite everything, “our city has done more to support asylum seekers than any other city in the country, but the sad reality is that the city has stretched farther than its resources allow“Defends the chosen one.
The realism of Eric Adams on the migration crisis in New York has however cost him dearly. Last May, the press revealed that he was no longer on the list of the president’s national advisers. Some have indeed considered his statements too “republicans“. He had notably declared that Joe Biden had “failedand abandoned the city regarding immigration. He added that New York “[était] destroyed by the migrant crisis».
2023-08-09 14:58:00
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