By Daniel Katzive
As asylum seekers continue to stream into New York City, Mayor Eric Adams on Monday announced another initiative to create new options to provide them with emergency shelter.
The faith-based shelter program announced Monday will be run in partnership with the nonprofit New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS). Up to 50 houses of worship or faith-based locations will offer overnight shelter for as many as 19 single adult men at each location, according to the mayor’s office. The city will also open five new centers providing daytime programming and support for the asylum seekers, according to the two-year plan.
The Mayor’s Office said that at full scale, the faith-based shelter program will host nearly 1,000 asylum seekers, which would be about 2% of the 46,000 the city estimates are currently being cared for.
District 6 City Councilmember Gale Brewer, who joined the mayor’s press conference, said she was “very excited about this program.” Brewer noted that a number of Upper West Side houses of worship are already providing services for asylum seekers, naming Broadway Communities and Saint Paul & Saint Andrew (on West 86th Street) in particular. Brewer said, “This community will do what is not always possible in a larger community setting, which is to work with the individuals.”
Brewer added a call to President Biden to issue orders expediting work permits for migrants. Adams, Governor Kathy Hochul, Brewer and other New York politicians have urged the swift granting of work permits as key to resolving the shelter crisis for asylum seekers. “Mr. President, sign those damn papers,” Brewer said.
“ Mr. President, sign those damn papers,” Brewer said.
She should have gone with “Mr. President, close this damn border” instead.
I thought it had already been closed by our former President, who was building a great big, beautiful wall, paid for by Mexico. Did I miss something?
Trump was right on the border. And he had many policies that helped. Like ending catch and release which Biden reinstated. And just the rhetoric which the left shouted from the rooftops about refugees being welcome, sanctuary city status, which sent the clear message that if you make it over the border or to the border and claim asylum you are basically in. You’ll be allowed in while yoir application is pending and if you disappear we aren’t sending cops into neighborhoods to arrest you. There are more people living in bad countries than we possibly have room for.
We can’t ha e a society woth generous welfare tyoe benefits and open borders in all but name. All the benefits will go to so called refugees who are needier than most needy Americans, and it won’t work. Itkll bankrupt us and built resentment. Open borders is anathema to true progressivism.
Well, we need many solutions to this complex problem. A reliable border AND work permits for those who are here so they can support themselves.
people who immigrate lawfully have no need of this because, guess what, Congress provided specific mechanisms for work permits to people who immigrate lawfully, ditto for those who lawfully seek asylum. If you jump the line to enter the country why do you jump other lines once here? When do you stop jumping lines? Yelling “faster” is cheap theatrics.
Yes. There’s a proper way of issuing a work visa for economic migrants. That’s what should have been done. Instead economic migrants are now called “asylum seekers” to gaslight us.
Now that Brewer is involved, does it mean that all these people are coming to the UWS?
Wouldn’t it be nice if the Mayor and Ms. Brewer got excited about housing the homeless, especially vets, and finding them jobs? All they are doing is providing more incentive for people to jump the border. Because they think the “asylum seekers” will provide a new voter base. Once they realize that many of them will end up voting Republican we’ll see a real change in their perspective.
Isn’t citizenship required to vote, or is Mayor Gonna-do going to allow them to jump that line too?
The City Council passed legislation to allow voting by non citizens. Court struck down. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-says-new-york-city-cant-let-noncitizens-vote-in-city-elections
Why don’t we address the obvious issue – most of migrants already work. Who do you think is delivering your food, cleaning restaurants, etc.? They don’t need work permits for that, the employers for these kinds of jobs are not looking for permit holders.
Once/If they get work permits, they will continue the same kind of jobs. Most don’t have other skills (that’s not to say that we don’t need these kinds of jobs, we definitely do). They won’t need to give up free housing and services as these are cash jobs. This way they will save on rent. Who needs to admit they are working and give up free housing? That’s how it has been done for years except now it is way worse.
How bout the 4 attached buildings on Amsterdam Ave. 568,570,572 Amsterdam and 200 w 88 st around the corner. All 4 building are empty except 1 or 2 tenants in 570. They could place a hundred or so migrants there.