How New York copes with illegal immigrants and what they themselves think about life in the city

Every day, undocumented immigrants arrive in New York from the southern border. The authorities of Texas and Arizona decided to abandon them. By bus, they send objectionable visitors to New York. Russian language news agencyTHE BUREAU” learned how the city copes with illegal immigrants, and the opinion of those who fled their country and want to stay in America.

Midtown Manhattan, 15nd street bus station. It is here that immigrants from Texas and Arizona are brought by bus every week. At the moment, three thousand people have already arrived in New York. From here they are taken by taxi or Uber to different places around the city. On August 42, passengers on another Texas-New York bus arrived at XNUMXnd Street. Some of the visitors are filming what is happening on the phone, they all saw Manhattan for the first time in their lives. And even though there is not a cent in his pocket, there are no documents either, but it seems that they are all happy.

Sidro Solano also got on one of the buses from Texas to New York. He comes from Venezuela, from there he fled to Panama. Then there was Mexico and finally the states.

“The Venezuelan authorities, even the police themselves, kidnap people very often. Need money. For example, they may think that you have relatives in another country. So your family has some money. Then the police can even cut off some part of your body. And send it to your family so that relatives send money, a ransom. Hope you understand what I mean. There is a lot of corruption, a lot of violations of the law. The President does nothing. And from the podium they say that everything is fine in Venezuela. But this is a lie. What documents are there? I need any job right now. That's all I want. And, of course, to have good people around. I would also like to live in an apartment instead of a homeless shelter. But for this I need money, I have to find a job. I've only been here for two weeks,” Solano shares.

The governor of Texas personally decided to get rid of immigrants. Back in April, he said that chaos was happening on the border with Mexico every day. 4000 asylum seekers arrive from Mexico, cases end up in court. The courts are slow. So enough, Texas is still not rubber. Therefore, the governor decided to send all undocumented emigrants around the country. First of all, to democratic states and cities, for example, to New York.

Ari Kagan, member of the New York City Council: “Let's move all the criminals from one state to another, the homeless, those who do not like. I do not approve of the behavior of the governor of Texas. Although he explains this by the fact that he has already appealed to the federal government many times, there is no result.

New York Mayor Eric Adams condemned the Texas governor. The head of the metropolis immediately stated that New York accepts and will accept immigrants. It doesn't matter if they have papers or not. And it doesn't matter where they come from: from Mexico, Colombia or Venezuela. Still, New York has a special status. This is a city of refuge, and here it is important to clarify. In US sanctuary cities, local law enforcement must not send information about illegal immigrants to federal authorities. And, of course, in New York, no one will ask you for documents. You can live here without them, without legal status all your life. Most importantly, don't break the law.

“Firstly, this is done for security reasons. Why? Otherwise, a person who does not have documents will not want to testify, having become a witness to a crime, he will not want to go to the hospital. He will be afraid to get vaccinated or be treated for an illness, so that he will be identified. Will not want to communicate with several government organizations. This will create much more problems than checking everyone and stopping,” says Ari Kagan.

Legendary yellow cab driver Benty Djalo says he only broke the law once in his life, when he crossed the border illegally. Now an immigrant from the Gambia has an American passport, a family, a stable job.

- I think that immigrants from Texas, but from anywhere, should be tested. So that we know who we accept. Maybe they are criminals. And then, I think, we can accommodate everyone. New York is still a great place.

- What do you think about if these are definitely illegal migrants?

- The main thing that I think is that everyone should be given the opportunity to live. But who are the illegals? Everyone here began to live illegally, and then they nevertheless received legal status in this country. I've gone through this myself. Calm down already and give them a chance.

Of course, New York, in principle, welcomes everyone with open arms. But here a problem arose.

Where Newly Arrived Texas and Arizona Immigrants Will Live

And so the mayor's office decided that it was enough to put them in shelters for the homeless. One of them is located in Manhattan at the intersection of First Avenue and 30th Street. But there aren't enough places for everyone. Now 50 thousand people live in all city shelters. In May there were only 46 of them. Meanwhile, new immigrants from Texas, Arizona, and other states continue to arrive in the city.

Mayor Adams found a way out after all. If new immigrants do not have enough space in shelters for the homeless, then we will accommodate them in a hotel. According to the New York Post, 600 visitors from Mexico and other countries will soon be staying at the Row Hotel on Eighth Avenue.

On the subject: Luxurious hotel in Times Square will be a haven for illegal immigrants

“We don't know if this is true or not. But all the journalists come and ask us the same question,” said the hotel employee.

In good times at the hotel, a standard room per night cost $400. However, a special promotion has now been announced here. Now a night here will cost $110. New York State now spends almost $XNUMX billion a year on undocumented immigrants. And second only to California.

Inna Vernikova, member of the New York City Council: “Mayor Adams asked the White House for help from the federal government. And I spoke to the Department of Human Services yesterday. They say that there is no answer yet. How much money did he ask them for? I do not know. They don't know, but they say? that they expect to be helped. You need to come here legally, with documents. Everything must be done according to the law. And now… Who pays for all this? We".

And this is Manhattan. Here in Hell's kitchen, Congresswoman Democrat Carolyn Maloney is holding a meeting with voters. She has been in Congress for 30 years. Therefore, we are immediately interested in what New York should do with immigrants from Texas.

“I think it's bad. Why does the governor of Texas think he can put people on a bus and send them to New York? It is not right. And we are doing everything we can to help these people,” says Maloney.

Ilya Riskin was a child when his family left everything in Moscow in the early 90s and immigrated to America. Of course, everything was legal. Today Ilya is a financial analyst.

- Do you think New York has enough resources to accept new immigrants?

- I do not know. But if not enough, we will find out in 10 years. Because this park, where 20-30 years ago there were only drug addicts. Needles were falling. It's called Bryant Park, and it used to be Neil Park, because there were needles all over the place. The man in the jacket couldn't come in here. Maybe they will cut some places in the city, somewhere they will stop taking out garbage. And a little more, and it will turn like in 75. Then everything was smeared with paint and graffiti. Some areas were not allowed to go. It's not okay, but this cycle. I don't think that since 90 all the murders, all the crimes have fallen. It won't drop to zero. You can't have a society where no one ever hits anyone. Someone will hit someone. I think it's some kind of cycle, but it needs to be regulated. That's why they chose the mayor.

Isidro Solana from Venezuela does not yet know when he will receive the first documents in America.

“I don’t have money, I don’t have a job either. I need to get a bunch of documents, but so far I have nothing. Here they promised to give a card for the subway. They give me food in a rooming house for the homeless, but strictly according to the schedule. But I am grateful to the staff of the shelter, they do a good job. For example, if someone gets sick, they will take care of him. If someone is missing a blanket, then they will definitely get this blanket for you. They are very attentive,” the man says.