Ruth E.Hernández Beltrán
New York, Jan 30. Venezuelan immigrants who recently arrived in New York have been sleeping on the street for two days, despite the winter cold, in protest at having been evicted from the hotel in Manhattan that served as their refuge, to be sent to another shelter that according to them does not meet the conditions for to live.
“There is no heating there and it is cold, the mattresses sink, the beds are very close together and you do not know who is next to you; there is nowhere to store your belongings and you have to cross the street to bathe and line up,” they denounced EFE several immigrants, some of whom have previously passed through other shelters provided by the Mayor’s Office.
Tents, suitcases, clothes, blankets or bicycles are the belongings of these angry immigrants, all men, in front of the Watson Hotel, in the well-known area of Hell’s Kitchen, where they have lived for several months after their arrival in New York, many envoys into town on buses by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
The city has received some 42,000 immigrants in recent months who have been placed in shelters that have ended up full, forcing the Mayor’s Office to accommodate them in hotels.
A table with hot coffee, fruit and other snacks are also on a sidewalk table, contributed by activists who support them and help with translation.
A NOTE UNDER THE DOOR
Several Venezuelans told EFE that last Tuesday, to their surprise, they were notified by the hotel administration, in a sheet that they passed under the door of their room, that they had to leave the place between January 28 and 31. . Two days later, a public list was posted with the identification number assigned to them, and the day and time they had to leave the hotel.
The Mayor’s Office began sending buses to pick them up, as happened this Monday, and take them to their new destination at the Brooklyn cruise terminal, converted into a temporary shelter for single men. The Watson Hotel, now vacated, will be used to house families with children.
“We went there (to Brooklyn), but we returned, it is not a suitable place to live,” said Eduardo Girón, who has been sleeping on the sidewalk for two days with at least a hundred men and assured that when they arrived in New York they were He said not to worry that “the US Government.” would give them “decent housing for two years.”
“They said: feel relaxed, and that’s why we started looking for work” which many have not been able to achieve because they do not have the required documents, he added. Given the delay in obtaining documents, some migrants chose to go to Canada.
José Daniel Martínez is among the protesting group. He told EFE that he arrived at the hotel on Sunday at around seven at night, after finishing his work day in a restaurant. “They told me I had to leave today at two in the afternoon,” recalled Martínez, 19, who has lived at the hotel for two months and joined his companions on the sidewalk. This Monday he did not show up for work because he says: “What do I do with my things?”
The Reverend Eric Salgado, a representative of the Office of Immigrant Affairs, came to the place and listened to the complaints, before reminding them that the hotel, like the shelter, is only a temporary place while they find a place for them.
After an hour at the hotel, he came out and informed the group that they should go to the Brooklyn shelter or to another single men-only shelter located on 30th Street.
“Go and sleep there,” a Venezuelan yelled at him. The migrants denounced that in the shelters they have been previously they have been threatened with knives, they have seen many inject drugs and that they fear for their lives.
The police spoke with the group and asked them to leave the place, without an immediate solution to the problem being seen for the moment. EFE
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