25 hours in line in the cold: how immigrants in New York try to get an appointment at ICE

Hundreds of migrants spent the night in tents in near freezing temperatures in a desperate bid to get into ICE headquarters in New York. New York Post.

This is due to the overburdened immigration system. She is once again trying to cope with the influx of migrants arriving in the US since President Biden took office.

A huge number of frustrated asylum seekers, including those with babies and young children, said they endured freezing nighttime temperatures in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday and Wednesday. And in the end they were told that their scheduled processing meetings would not take place.

“Here's how it works. It’s no good,” said Stephanie R., who arrived from Ecuador.

The drawn-out procedures are a sign that the Big Apple is straining to accommodate the tens of thousands of migrants who have flooded the city in recent months.

In recent days, a makeshift mini-tent city has formed near 26 Federal Plaza, where US Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices are located. Desperate migrants say their meetings are ignored. Instead, people are served on a first-come, first-served basis.

Cardboard boxes, backpacks and blankets were strewn across the concrete in the early hours of 23 November. By the time the sun rose, Stephanie and her family, including 5-year-old daughter Evelyn and 23-year-old cousin, had been waiting for 25 hours. And all to no avail.

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They arrived at 6:30 am on November 22 for an appointment at 9 am. But, to their surprise, they still refused.

“The newspaper says that the meeting is scheduled for 9 am yesterday. But people here asked, "What time do you have an appointment?" I say 9 am. He says: “You missed it! Come back tonight! You will have to wait in line to book another appointment,” Stephanie said through an interpreter.

“I say missed the meeting? Is it 2 and a half hours away? I thought he was crazy, so I kept waiting.”

As they stood outside ICE headquarters day and night, Stephanie's daughter began to cough because of the low temperatures.

“Very cold, I stood and shivered. It was so cold that my hands hurt. It hurt so much to hold her,” Stephanie said.

“A man came and took the two girls into his car so they could sleep and keep warm. Evelyn is sick now,” the mother said as the unfortunate daughter coughed beside her.

“This is the first time we feel such a temperature. We are from a tropical country. This morning, around 4:00, was the coldest. And I thought, “Wow! I didn’t even know it can get so cold.”

Then, after a night of waiting, the family was told that their meeting would not take place for the second day in a row.

Instead, the immigration officer showed Stephanie how to book a new appointment using a smartphone that ICE gave her at the Mexican border. This process could be done on a Tuesday morning from anywhere.

“We crossed the border a month ago from my country. And they gave us these documents and a GPS phone to let us know where we are. They told us that this office is here, where we should come on this day at this time,” she said.

By noon, the queue, which had grown to about 4 people by 175 a.m., dispersed after officials told migrants whose appointments could not be reconciled on Wednesday to try again after the holiday weekend.

“We are closed, we are closed,” barked the guard at the door in English to several asylum seekers. But non-migrants who have a business in the immigration center and have passports from Ireland and Japan were allowed to enter the building without question.

One man who was denied entry to the building on Wednesday said it was the seventh time he had tried and failed to come to an appointment. This highlights the long-standing scope of the problem as cold weather has settled in the region.

Marlo Lopez, 35, was one of the last people to walk out of Federal Plaza with a manila envelope around XNUMX:XNUMX pm.

“Yes, I was able to get through today, I got in line at 2 am. And they received people until about 5 am,” he said.

“The line almost went around the building. I got into it when it was on the other street,” and pointed to the corner of Lafayette and Duane Street.

“When I got in, there was still a huge line. I'm not sure how many they let in after me, but there were at least 50 people left. It was cold, but you just have to be very well bundled up,” he said. And he added that people with children had been waiting for more than 12 hours.

A family of four - mother, father, little boy and little girl - came to the reception at 14:15 pm. But they were refused and told to return on Monday.

The guards also prevented journalists from entering 26 Federal Plaza and inquiring about the system in person.

ICE stated that it is "working to resolve ongoing processing delays at some ICE locations."

“Non-citizens should familiarize themselves with the ICE registration criteria. And, if possible, make an appointment using the ICE meeting planner,” the agency said in a statement.

ICE said migrants who waited in line all night to make an appointment would not be penalized for missing a rendezvous if they scanned a quick response code with their smartphone.

“Non-citizens will not be considered a no-show if they use a QR code. ICE will reschedule them,” the officials said.

The agency's recommendations did not help the nearly XNUMX migrants who had been queuing all night.

The people in line said they were taking extreme measures. ICE will only let in as many people as the agency can see on a first come, first served basis that day, regardless of who has appointments.

“Very cold, my leg is numb. I can’t even move my whole arm,” Edie Kista said in Spanish at 2:30 am. A woman held her 2-year-old daughter in her arms on Rue Lafayette.

“I wrapped her up in three trousers, a jacket and about two shirts,” she said.

“It leads to hypothermia,” Laura Godoy said of the weather. Godoy had been waiting outside since 19:00 pm, 13 hours before her appointment.

The situation arose when New York and other cities of refuge experienced a thousandth influx of migrants. Some of them were sent by the Biden administration from the southern border, and many others were sent by Texas officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott and the mayor of El Paso.

More than 2,4 million migrants arrived in the US in the fiscal year ending September. This is a record annual figure.

That trend appeared to ease off a bit last month, according to US Customs and Border Protection. Some 130 migrants fleeing oppression in Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico and Central America crossed the border last month.

However, there were signs that the crisis would deepen after a federal judge overturned the Trump-era border policy. It allowed law enforcement to expel migrants caught illegally entering the country.

Nearly 26 illegal immigrants have passed through the New York reception system and have been given asylum in areas since the spring.

Nearly 18 migrants are currently cared for in 700 emergency shelters and 57 emergency response centers, according to the mayor's office.

Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency during the crisis. He is asking for $1 billion in aid from Albany and Washington, D.C. to offset the city's humanitarian efforts.

The harsh and haphazard conditions associated with New York City's migration crisis prompted a response from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from Brooklyn.

“There needs to be a more efficient and humane way for ICE to schedule and process people for registration and other turnouts,” he said. "We are in contact with ICE and advocacy organizations to call for early improvements."