This summary about a wave of migrants arriving in NYC was featured in Documented’s Early Arrival newsletter. You can subscribe to receive it in your inbox three times per week here.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently expanded his controversial Operation Lone Star by sending migrants to New York, overwhelming city and nonprofit agencies with more than 4,000 asylum seekers.
These immigrants are likely to face ample challenges in the weeks ahead, write my colleagues Amir Khafagy and Giulia McDonnell Nieto Del Rio. They’ll be looking for housing, food and employment, and some mutual aid groups are stepping up to help.
Volunteers with South Bronx Mutual Aid recently set up a makeshift intake center to receive migrants as they arrived at the NYC Port Authority bus terminal. The volunteers said they were barred from setting up inside the bus terminal; immigrants arriving on buses from Texas were joyous at the welcome they received outside.
Aid groups are learning from the first immigrants who arrived in NYC: Some migrants complained it was unclear when they would be able to access more permanent housing. And in some cases, immigrants were out every day searching for jobs across NYC, only to be denied employment and forced to return to their temporary cots.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York has helped over 1,200 of the estimated group of 4,000 or more recently arrived migrants, said Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, the Executive Director.
“A national crisis:” The newly arrived migrants are in need of food, clothes, legal assistance, and other services. Sullivan said the rising number of migrants coming to New York has strained the organization and there “is certainly a need for resources — for federal resources. From our perspective, we think this is a national crisis.”
The city has also been helping to provide transportation, but organizations say resources remain limited and more help is needed.
Read more from our latest report on the newly arrived migrants.
Some migrants have also reached out to Documented: Through our Whatsapp platform, they are asking for information including where to get clothes donations; where to stay in New York when they enter the U.S. with their papers, etc.
We’re compiling a list of information to answer some of these questions. We’d like to hear your suggestions, and we will share a comprehensive resource guide with you in a forthcoming edition of Early Arrival.
Read some of our other resource guides for migrants.
STORIES WE ARE FOLLOWING
New York
Asian groups are divided over the creation of Brooklyn’s first majority Asian council district: Some groups want to retain a coalition that encompasses not only Asians but also Latinos and other voting minorities. — THE CITY
Around the U.S.
Arizona plans to use shipping containers to fill border wall gaps: The state plans to fill 3 gaps covering 3000 feet in the coming weeks, without explicit permission on federal land. — PBS News Hour
Court says BIA incorrectly found judge’s comment didn’t violent a permanent resident’s due process rights: The Board of Immigration Appeals disqualified a judge from a deportation case after she called a claim that he is not fluent in Spanish “stupid” and “laughable.” — Reuters
Immigration officials arrested 187 immigrants after landing in Florida keys on boats: Between last October and June, Customs and Border Protection officials have detained more than 1,300 Cubans who arrived in Florida. — AP News
Washington D.C.
Border officials have apprehended more migrants this year than all of last: About 18% of the people apprehended in July had crossed before, a pattern some blame on Title 42’s rapid expulsions. — New York Times
LexisNexis sued for collecting personal information, selling it to ICE: The data broker allegedly collected and sold extensive personal information, including one woman’s social security number and addresses. — AP News
Podcast — Afghan’s recognition problem: While the Biden administration has claimed to welcome refugees from both Afghanistan and Ukraine, the process for people fleeing the two countries has been unequal. — Reveal
Trump-appointed judge accuses 9th Circuit of playing “dirty” to prevent deportations: Judge Lawrence VanDyke dissented in a decision that held that a Mexican native did not commit a deportable offense. — Reuters
