Black immigrant rally in NYC raises awareness about racial, religious and language inequities
NEW YORK — Black immigrants came by the hundreds to New York City Hall on Tuesday during a hearing on racial inequality in the city’s shelter and immigrant support systems.
More than 1,500 immigrants, mostly from Guinea, gathered in City Hall Park after it became clear that only about a hundred people would be accommodated inside for the hearing.
The city council dealt with relatively small proposals. One set of bills would require administrators to collect better data on migrants in city departments. Another effort, a resolution, called on the federal government to eliminate or refund immigration application fees.
City Council members are calling for better data because they believe, with some evidence acknowledged by city officials, that Black migrants are more likely to be turned away from shelters, denied access to help in their native language and less able to find housing for religious practices than others.
City officials say African migrants are more likely to come to the city without children, meaning they are often less of a priority because of limited shelter space. Under a recent legal settlement, the city can deport adult migrants after 30 days in a shelter and 60 days for those under 23 before forcing them to reapply for another place. It is unclear how often these migrants sleep on the street or in a subway car.
“The 30- to 60-day notices disproportionately affect Black immigrants,” Assemblywoman Alexa Avilés, chair of the Immigration Committee, said Tuesday in a gilded hearing room. Dozens of immigrants listened to the proceedings through headsets with access to simultaneous translations in Wolof, Haitian Creole, Arabic, French, Fula and Bambara.
Rallies in support of city council proposals are common, but usually draw only a few dozen people, often only the most aligned activists. But Guineans who cheered and clapped outside Tuesday said they heard about the event through word of mouth, often through WhatsApp groups with fellow immigrants, and came to support city council members or see if they could get information about jobs and housing. Some learned for the first time that they qualify for city-run health insurance.
“I’m very impressed that there was a call to action today and that you showed up,” Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse told those in the hearing room and outside in the park.
“We want support because we have no shelter, we have nowhere to live. Moreover, we also want help in legalizing our situation in this country,” said Ibrahima Barry, from Guinea, regarding obtaining work permits and residence permits.
While asylum seekers have to wait six months for a possible work permit, some migrant groups are offered a shorter route.
In September, President Joe Biden authorized Venezuelans already in the country to receive immigration protection indefinitely, making them eligible for work permits. In December, in response to a wave of violence in Haiti, the government announced an expansion of the program for Haitians.
Some countries in Africa, such as Sudan and Ethiopia, are also on that aid list, but not Guinea or other common origin countries of New York immigrants such as Senegal and Mauritania. And like the relief for Venezuelans, the protections do not apply to migrants who have arrived since the initial announcement.
These migrants, many of whom are Muslims and French speakers, face unique challenges that cannot be fully solved by the city’s best-funded charities, which are mostly Christian-based and have decades of experience serving Spanish-speaking migrants.
New York City’s estimated 275 mosques were among the first to house or escort Muslim immigrants seeking shelter, halal food and water spigots used in pre-prayer ablutions. But they have struggled to meet demand, even as the city moves to eliminate some building codes to make it easier to convert religious buildings into shelters. New York City is home to thousands of immigrants from African countries whose languages and religions differ from the Latin American immigrants who make up the majority of those in the city’s care.
About 75% of immigrants served by the city speak Spanish, followed by French — which is spoken in Guinea, Haiti and other countries — and then Wolof, Arabic and Chinese, according to Molly Schaefer, who directs the Office of Asylum seekers from the city. Activities.
‘Go and look at the other cities. No one sleeps in airports. No one sleeps in police stations. No one sleeps in the hospital, on floors. Children and families are not sleeping on the streets,” Mayor Eric Adams told reporters on Tuesday. He spoke at an unrelated news conference that took place at the same time as the City Council hearing, citing stopgap solutions found in other major cities in recent years. “And we continue to evolve.”
Outside the hearing room, among flowering trees and the occasional tour group, Guinean video editor and web designer Diogo Diallo said he had come to the City Hall Park to seek information, not necessarily to support a specific bill. His main request is to “accelerate work permits,” which only federal authorities can do. He plans to submit an asylum application this week, which means he may receive a work permit in six months. He would like that sooner. Under a new legal arrangement, he has only two weeks left before he has to apply for a place in a reception center again, with the possibility that he will not get a new one.
“If I work, I can leave the shelter,” Diallo said.
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AP journalist Jocelyn Noveck contributed to the reporting.