ADAPTING TO THE MIGRANT CRISIS: NYC
Since 2022 NYC has received 116,000 migrants. It already had an overcrowded shelter system, so has it managed this new influx? The migrants are housed in repurposed hotels, former jails and schools, tented dormitories with cots that touch. But it appears that they are dealing with it. They are from Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Senegal, Sudan, Mauritania, Afghanistan and many other lands.
NYC by law is obligated to take in migrants and is doing its best. Some neighborhoods reject them, others tolerate them, others welcome them. But they are here to stay, and they will adapt.
Anti-migrant sections of the US are missing out. These new migrants are resourceful, ambitious, and anxious for a new life. They will contribute their labor and culture to the US in ways we cannot now imagine. We must be patient.
Source: The New York Times, 10/1/23