With banners and a loud voice, a group of protesters had a very clear message for the mayor this Friday, one day after he forgot immigrants in his state of the city speech: that when immigrants are attacked, they fight and defend them. .
“Historically, it is a city made and composed of immigrants, and if migrants are absent, this city does not run. And I believe that they should be respected and honored with the services they need to live dignified lives,” said Aracelis Lucero, MASA director.
In his annual speech to detail his political agenda, Mayor Eric Adams spoke on Thursday about jobs, security, health and housing.
But at a time when the city faced a serious homeless crisis, it forgot about the new arrivals.
“Yes, we saw a speech yesterday where the mayor basically excluded us from his vision for the city,” said Andrea Ortiz, an activist.
“Last week he proposed a budget where he plans to take more money away from schools, where he does not have a plan to help newcomers seeking asylum so that they have permanent housing, not just temporary housing,” added Ortiz.
In his State of the City speech, the mayor barely mentioned immigrants, the protest was swift and on the steps of his offices the immigrants let him know their discontent.
“They begin to say we don’t have room here for immigrants, we are a very diverse city and that is what we have to protect,” Ortiz said.
The concern of the protesters is due to the recent statements by the mayor in questioning the right of immigrants seeking asylum in NY to have the right to refuge.
Complaints were also made about cuts to the education budget.
“He is asking for cuts of more than 225 million dollars that will affect the number of teachers, which will affect the emotional social support that the children will have,” added Lucero.