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The ball is in President Joe Biden’s court to “get stuff done.” Last Wednesday, April 19, Mayor Eric Adams renewed pressure on federal authorities to assist with newly-arrived asylum seekers by this upcoming May 11, the expiration of public health restriction Title 42, which Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump used to turn away asylum seekers under the pretense of preventing the spread of Covid-19.
“As a city, we have done everything in our power to provide support to the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have arrived at our doorstep,” said Adams. “While New York City has shouldered the costs of this crisis largely alone, we have always said that this is a national crisis that requires a coordinated, comprehensive response from the federal government. To deny people the ability to work legally sets them up for failure.
“The actions we’re urging our federal partners to do, all of which can be done without support from the Republican leaders in Congress who refuse to do their jobs, will ensure that asylum seekers in New York City, and across the country, can do what they came here to do — work lawfully and build stable lives.”
The city is intaking roughly 200 migrants daily according to the Mayor’s Office.
Adams’ gameplan for the Biden administration includes re-designating or extending Temporary Protective Status for South American, Central American, and African nations listed, which he says will allow for more work authorization for eligible individuals. He also recommends opening up humanitarian parole, which allows migrants “who may be inadmissible or otherwise ineligible for admission” to temporarily remain in the country, along with ramping up the number of those reviewing immigration cases.
Such plans makeup a portion of Adams’ “The Road Forward” playbook, which was announced last month to address the future of newly-arrived asylum seekers. The Mayor’s blueprint intends to “integrate” migrants into New York City by adding some to the workforce. Adams specifically mentions vacancies in agriculture, transit, manufacturing and the service industry as fields migrants can fill if they are legally allowed to work.
This past February, male asylum seekers told Amsterdam News many found jobs in Manhattan since arriving and employment was a key reason why they initially protested relocation to a Brooklyn facility.
Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Manuel Castro adds that many migrants experience hopelessness since arriving in the United States. He thinks employment can fix that.
“Their situation is turning from the search for the American dream to a nightmare,” said Castro. “Because they’re not able to work [and] they feel shame that they cannot provide for their families and they cannot contribute to the city and United States. And they feel [as] they’re failing as parents and providers for their families here and back home. But there is hope.”
He adds that Salvadorans and Hondurans eligible for TPS frequently thrive in the “Big Apple” thanks to work permits.
Adams mentions many African asylum seekers are currently assisted by imams in the Bronx. He added “enough was enough” and that New Yorkers “deserved better from their national government.”
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) agreed with Adams’ assessment on employment, and said the immigrant and refugee rights group would join the mayor’s calls on the Biden administration.
“Finding work is a basic and essential first step to allowing people to build independent lives for themselves and their families,” said NYIC’s Theodore Moore in his statement. “Without the ability to move forward with their legal cases and gain much needed work authorizations, our newest arrivals are forced to live in desperate circumstances that often leads them to work in an unregulated economy open to abuse and wage theft.”
But the same immigration advocates also condemned Adams just a few days later over comments at this week’s African American Mayors Association Conference, where he said the migrant crisis was destroying New York City and that none of “his folks” came to Washington D.C. to fight for resources.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visitinghttps://bit.ly/amnews1.
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A sellout crowd met and mingled with skating luminaries at “Celebrating Excellence & Sisterhood,” this year’s Figure Skating in Harlem (FSH) gala, held at Gotham Hall. Celebrities of the skating world at the event included the likes of Olympic Champions Scott Hamilton and Nathan Chen, along with other well-known skaters, current FSH participants and alumnae, and this year’s honorees.
Honorees were fashion icon Michael Kors; Crystal Barnes, senior vice president, social responsibility and environmental social and governance at Paramount; and FSH alumna Flo Ngala, a rising star in photography. FSH founder/CEO Sharon Cohen was not only thrilled with Ngala’s success, but impressed by how she ties it back her experiences with the organization.
Ngala became emotional in her speech, recalling how her mother and late father helped foster her love of skating and the importance of the nurturing she received from everyone at FSH.
“I stand before you filled with emotion and gratitude for an organization that literally means the world to me,” said Ngala, who earlier this year was named to the 30 Under 30 list by Forbes magazine. “While some see my career today as intriguing, I kind of joke about how it feels like a second life of sorts, simply due to immersive and empowering experience I received at FSH during my 12 years [in figure skating]. It’s a memory of the past that follows me everywhere I go.”
High school senior India Freeman joined FSH in her freshman year of high school, introduced to it by her cousins, who had been in the program since elementary school. “All of these doors opened up,” said Freeman, who is a Posse Scholar and will attend Franklin & Marshall College in the fall. “At first, I joined simply because I wanted to do the sport. Then, I found out about the community and the sisterhood. It’s everything in one program and it blew my mind completely.”
Halle Cespedes, now an 11th grader, joined FSH in sixth grade, missed two years during the pandemic, and rejoined this year. “I didn’t realize how much I missed it until I came back and I was immersed in all the programming and seeing the girls again,” she said. “Sisterhood is one of the big things.”
Eighth grader Aschah Jones loved the opportunities of career week.
Starr Andrews, who this year became the first Black female singles skater to medal at the U.S. Championships in 35 years, was on hand for the festivities. Andrews has been involved with FSH for several years, including performing a tribute to the late Mabel Fairbanks at one of FSH’s virtual galas during the pandemic.
“I love coming here and meeting up with the girls and visiting with them,” said Andrews. “It’s always so much fun and they’re all so sweet. Seeing the smiles on their faces makes me so happy.”
Again this year, there were two tables of program alumnae.
The gala was hosted by Vladimir Duthiers of CBS News. It opened and closed with FSH alumna Mariama Diop, an actress/singer who performed in “The Lion King” on Broadway, singing while video of FSH was shown.
Just before the gala, it was announced that FSH was selected as a recipient of a $75,000 grant from Dick’s Sporting Good’s 75for75 program, launched in honor of the retailer’s 75th anniversary.
The evening concluded with a quote from the late Nelson Mandela about how sport inspires people and can change the world. This summer, 11 current FSH participants (present at the gala) will journey to Mandela’s homeland, South Africa, along with Cohen; Bernice Deabreu, dean of students emerita; and two staff members, Ila Epperson and Raquea Hemingway. For the FSH participants, who were selected through an application process, this will be the trip of a lifetime.
“We learned that the [FSH] model held up in Detroit (Figure Skating in Detroit was launched in 2017), and we believe that taking skating peer-to-peer to a country where maybe girls haven’t been exposed to figure skating before is enormously powerful for both sides,” said Cohen. “That’s the way FSH can make a difference to many other communities.”
