1,300 Migrants swarm NYC’s City Hall over false rumor of green card and work visa distributions

By lauraharris // 2024-04-24

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About 1,300 Haitian and African migrants gathered outside New York City Hall during a City Council hearing on the experiences of Black migrants in the city's shelter system after a false rumor spread that they could get work visas and green cards if they showed up. On April 16, the City Council's Committee of Immigration and Committee on Hospitals conducted a joint hearing to understand how the administration of Mayor Eric Adams "is addressing language access barriers, cultural competency challenges, health needs and other roadblocks" that African and Haitian newcomers experience in the city. (Related: Texas Gov. Abbott slams NYC mayor's $53M "Cash for Migrants" program.) Commissioner Manuel Castro of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs stated that the recent surge in African migrants, primarily from Guinea in West Africa, has exacerbated the challenge of providing adequate language services. He emphasized the need for better language training, pointing out that there are almost 3,000 languages spoken across the African continent. "This is mostly an issue that belongs to the federal government. They need to do better at providing training in these languages," said Castro. "Early on in the situation with the arrival of asylum seekers, it was primarily Venezuelans, Ecuadorians and other Spanish-speaking asylum seekers. But we started seeing more people from across the world arrive, so there’s a bit of an adjustment period that we’re undergoing." While this hearing was ongoing, newly arrived African and Haitian migrants received false information from community leaders regarding their immigration status. Amadou Sara Bah, 44, who arrived in the U.S. from Guinea in November, stated that he was not interested solely in the hearing at City Hall. Instead, he showed up after being promised assistance with getting a work permit and a green card. Bah revealed that he already applied for both back in March, but ran into obstacles due to his lack of legal representation. Bah decided to go to the hearing to ease his anxiety, but by 12:30 p.m., Bah and his companions remained seated near City Hall, feeling overlooked and neglected. "There are many people here and we don’t know how to get the help they told us would be here," he said. "I came here for a green card. I'm looking for help."

Newly arrived migrants demand more taxpayer-funded programs

Assitan Makadii, a representative from the organization African Communities Together, rushed to City Hall upon learning that migrants had been lured to the city under false promises of green cards and financial aid. "They received some miscommunications, so we are here to provide clarification. They were told they would get money and green cards. It started how all rumors get started, on social media," she said. Makadii explained that most migrants have no access to food, are unable to secure housing and have been forced to seek shelter in subway stations, which is why most of them are desperate for help. "They don’t have nothing and they deserve everything because they are human. We are all human. They don’t have a place to go. As you can see, I don’t think [the city housing is] happening because they’re all here because they don’t have a place to sleep. They’re not used to cheese, but they don’t have no choice because in the shelter that’s what they serve. If they go to the pantry, they can get food, but it’s not cooked food and they can’t cook in the shelter. So we’re looking for cooked food for them," she said. However, these demands would further strain New York City's resources and those of its taxpayers. Follow Migrants.news for more stories about illegal immigrants coming to America. Watch Mayor Eric Adams suggesting that illegal immigrants in NYC be housed in private residences below. This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com.

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Newly arrived migrants demand more taxpayer-funded programs

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