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Dec 22, 2023, 12:01amUpdated 1d ago

More than 100,000 migrantshave arrived in New York City in the past year.The city says its resources are maxed out. Some say it may take divine intervention to solve this crisis.

One of our enduring values is that we welcome the stranger, that we see whats sacred in each other and respond with compassion to our neighbors who are vulnerable, Bishop Matthew Heyd told News 12 New York.

Heyd is one of the leaders asking the city to consider contracts with some of the thousands of local faith-based organizations.Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is also involved in the push.She says the organizations would contract with the city at a rate of $74 a night.

Housing someone in a hotel, which is what the city is mostly doing, costs over $300 a night. You add that up, ifwe were to move folks to faith-based institutions, the city would save $543 million at least, she said. Organizers tell News 12 New York that one hurdle has been getting the historical buildings up to New York City fire code, as somedonthave sprinklers. City Hall told News 12 in a statement:

We are working to bring more interested houses of worship into full FDNY and DOB compliance as the safety of asylum seekers is always our top priority.

Quinn says theresa simple solution.

The answer to the lack of sprinklers is to have a fire warden be on the floor.Someone whosconstantly watching to see whatsgoing on, she said.

The program has been rolled out to about 50 faith-based organizations so far with 15 beds each.Leaders are asking the city to increase that number to 5,000 migrants. Our faith communities are safe and comfortable places,and we think that we can extend that to our newest New Yorkers. People fleeing danger from wherever they are from, Heyd added.

Excerpt from:
Faith leaders ask NYC to contract faith-based organizations to help with migrant crisis - News 12 Bronx

Mayor Adams called on New Yorkers to go to Washington, D.C., to voice concern about the citys migrant crisis and budget cuts hes blamed on the influx of new arrivals.

The heart and soul of who we are as Americans is to go to our center of government and raise our voices when we believe government is not responding accordingly, he said Tuesday at a City Hall press conference. Im not pushing this off on New Yorkers. Im saying to New Yorkers: Youre angry and Im angry and the source of our discontent lies in Washington, D.C.

Adams statement came less than two weeks after a poll showed his popularity has declined steeply amid budget cuts and no end in sight to more migrants flowing into the five boroughs.

Since shortly after Adams took office,more than 150,000 asylum seekers have streamed into the city, pushing agencies to their limit.

Adams and top officials in his administration have demanded both the federal and state governments provide more help and the mayor has repeatedly called on his fellow elected officials to lobby President Biden and federal lawmakers for help him toward that end.

On Tuesday, Adams extended that call to everyday New Yorkers. How willing they are to take him up on it is unclear, though.

Caring for the migrants has significantly hit the city in the pocketbook. The mayor has estimated that managing the crisis will cost the city $12 billion by the end of fiscal year 2025, leading to budget cuts to essential services like the NYPD, the Sanitation Department and libraries.

The situation has begun to seriously cut into his polling numbers. A Quinnipiac University survey put out on Dec. 6 showed that Adams approval rating hit an all-time low of 28%.

On Tuesday, he brushed aside the idea that hes foisting responsibility for the migrant crisis on ordinary New Yorkers.

Say to the national government, This is not fair, whats happening to New York City,' he said. It is my role to educate them. This is who is responsible for what were seeing in the city of New York.

Go here to read the rest:
Mayor Adams urges New Yorkers to go to Washington and complain about migrant crisis, budget - New York Daily News

Regarding the editorial Spiraling migrant crisis, not Gaza, needs full City Council attention (Dec. 20): I agree with the Tribune Editorial Board. I remember the states impressive emergency medical facility at McCormick Place during the COVID-19 crisis. I see the difference now when a different international crisis is put on the shoulders of a municipal government alone.

The editorial board writes: Why should this time be any different? Indeed.

On Monday, I addressed the many crises facing my constituents. Chicago is home to the largest Palestinian American community in the U.S., and my constituents have already endured the trauma of family members being killed in Gaza. In committee, I addressed these crimes funded by billions upon billions of our tax dollars. Not even a fraction of that funding has been directed to address the migrant crisis at home a failure to value the lives of brown children at home just as the federal government disregards the lives of brown children abroad. The pope has called the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza terrorism and the editorial board has the audacity to claim attention paid to this genocide is ideological? I accept accountability for failing to cage my humanity to human-made borders.

Following the committee meeting, I went to the Pilsen shelter and spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening speaking with shelter residents, parents with sick children and volunteers critical of the shelters deficiencies, as well as coordinating efforts to improve the quality of life for my newest constituents.

Instead of being relocated quietly with dignity, as the Department of Homeland Security has done for Ukrainian refugees, my Venezuelan cousins have been made a spectacle by our bigoted federal government. Mayor Brandon Johnsons administration is using local departments to respond to a crisis of international proportions, rapidly raising up shelter after shelter. Gov. J.B. Pritzker, to date, has created zero shelters. Neither DHS nor the Federal Emergency Management Agency has stepped in to offer support.

It is no wonder the Pilsen shelter, intended for 1,000 migrants, now houses more than double. The state and federal government are failing to meet this moment, and our media fail to hold them accountable.

My heart is with the family of young Jean Carlo Martinez, and I will continue to fight for our institutions at all levels to respect the lives of our new neighbors by investing in their dignity and care today.

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th

Send migrants to Washington, and put them on the White House lawn, a Portage Park resident said, as quoted in the Tribune story Tempers flare over new temporary migrant site (Dec. 20).

As if migrants are objects, packages misdirected, to be shipped elsewhere. Placed on a lawn.

Of course, I agree with the resident that veterans who are unhoused should be served!

Any real solutions have to begin by acknowledging the humanity of the migrants people who left horrific violence, hoping our land would be a refuge as well as the humanity of all who are unhoused. It shouldnt be either/or.

Lets start with realizing that migrants and others who are unhoused are people just like you and me, like those of us lucky enough to have warmth on bitter days.

Diane ONeill, Chicago

The Tribune Editorial Board gets it right with its Spiraling migrant crisis editorial. Id go further to say that those wasting taxpayer dollars on something that does not relate to the city of Chicago should be voted out at the next election.

Lastly, there can be no permanent cease-fire anywhere where terrorists are concerned. Hamas is using the people of Gaza as human shields. Its despicable and the reason Israel must complete the process of eradicating Hamas in Gaza. Israel should of course be taking care to avoid civilian casualties and working to get civilians out of harms way, but it appears there are some severe problems in that regard.

President Joe Bidens administration has been on the correct side and is pressuring Israel to control its behavior while supporting the effort to eliminate Hamas. Giving up and allowing Hamas to regroup and break any cease-fire would be wrong, and the next time, its attacks could be worse.

A two-state solution must be set in place when Hamas is defeated. Why are these members of Chicagos City Council not calling for Hamas to surrender? They should do the job they were elected to perform and thats handle the problems in the city of Chicago. Where there are many!

Jean Brennan, Chicago

I commend the Dec. 20 editorial for correctly pointing out that the Chicago City Council should concern itself with matters that it can actually control rather than matters concerning which it can only express its opinion. In this case, that means addressing the influx of immigrants that the councils self-proclaimed sanctuary city policies have for years invited rather than calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, where it has zero jurisdiction.

I criticize the Tribune Editorial Board, however, for its claim that the problem here is flowing from the state of Texas and its characterization of Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts busing of some immigrants as inhumane and without notice.

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Manifestly, the problem here flows from the District of Columbia, in particular President Joe Bidens administrations invitation to cross our southern border, aided and abetted by the city of Chicagos sanctuary city policies. (Those policies in the past have included flatly refusing to cooperate with immigration authorities even in deporting people found by our court system to have no legal basis for staying in the U.S. after exhausting all appeals.)

The editorial boards claim that busing migrants whose claims have yet to be filed, much less adjudicated, is inhumane and without notice, also does not withstand scrutiny. The buses are heated, all have arrived safely and Chicago has been on notice that they are on their way. Moreover, Illinoiss continuing population loss would be even more dire absent such immigration.

Surely, the sanctuary state of Illinois and city of Chicago can find meaningful ways to incorporate new immigrants into the Chicago workforce and help them on their way to becoming productive first- and second-generation citizens.

If not, then perhaps the mayor and the governor can have a long talk with Biden when hes in town for the Democratic National Convention.

David Applegate, Huntley

Join the conversation in our Letters to the Editor Facebook group.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

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Letters: The city is rising to meet the moment for migrants and Palestinians. What about state, federal leaders? - Chicago Tribune

The state-owned, 150-year-old building in East Cambridge currently houses a Middlesex County Registry of Deeds office, and until 2020, was home to a probate and family court, state officials said. The new shelter site is expected to house up to 70 families during the evening and overnight hours, and will be equipped with cots and what officials described as limited amenities.

The site is designed to ensure families have a warm and safe place to stay overnight until an [emergency] shelter unit becomes available, L. Scott Rice, the states emergency assistance director, said in a statement.

Were grateful for the partnership of the City of Cambridge and [the site] provider AMI, and we encourage community organizations to reach out to us with any daytime programs and resources they are able to provide to families in need, Rice said.

Lawmakers required that Healey stand up the overflow sites after Healey began limiting how many people the shelter system could house. The first-term Democrat created a 7,500-family cap and said the state could no longer guarantee families housing after decades of guaranteeing shelter under Massachusetts unique right-to-shelter law.

Massachusetts House leaders had pushed to require Healey open overflow sites after criticizing administration officials for not having a real plan for housing families with no other options.

Beyond its own sites, the state also seeded the United Way of Massachusetts Bay with $5 million that it could spread to faith-based groups and other local organizations to set up overnight shelter for families on the waiting list. So far, the United Way has awarded money for three sites one in greater Boston and two in the north central region of the state that together can serve anywhere from 50 to 57 families total, according to state officials.

Combined with the overflow shelter the state set up in Quincy and the other its now planning in Cambridge, the Healey administration has created capacity for roughly 180 families. As of Wednesday, there were 357 families on the waitlist, raising the possibility that there are some who were deemed eligible for shelter by the state but didnt have a place to go.

Kevin Connor, a spokesperson for Healeys housing office, said the state is still exploring other options for overflow shelters. The Boston Herald first reported the states plans to use the Cambridge site.

The Healey administration in the last two weeks contacted Secretary of State William F. Galvins office, which oversees the registry of deeds, to gauge whether the former courthouse building could be used for a shelter, said Deb OMalley, a Galvin spokesperson.

The secretarys office has maintained the building on Cambridge Street since the probate and family court shifted to a new site in Woburn early in the COVID-19 pandemic. But OMalley said plumbing and other infrastructure in large swaths of the building had gone unused for years, given the deeds office only uses a portion of the site.

She said city inspectors and fire officials planned to do a walk-through of the site Thursday afternoon, and that the state could begin setting up the site as early as Friday, if the city signs off on it.

Most of the building has no [working] plumbing right now, she said. Nobody has been using it. And it hasnt been cleaned frequently.

The building was first built in 1870, according to city records. State officials said the building on Thursday was undergoing deep cleaning and other work, including efforts to ensure there were physical divisions between the shelter space and the area accessible to members of the public who need to visit the registry of deeds during the day.

The Healey administration is in the midst of consolidating other shelters for homeless and migrant families into hotels fully dedicated to providing emergency shelter. The move, officials said, will allow the state to better coordinate its response to the needs of migrant families, but others criticized the process as a chaotic and potentially harmful shuffle.

On Monday night, state officials also announced a proposal to dip into the states surplus account to help cover the mounting costs brought on by the shelter system, projecting it will need $224 million more this fiscal year and $915 million in the next.

The Healey administration estimated that it will spend $932 million on costs related to the shelter system this fiscal year. Thats nearly triple the $325 million the state initially budgeted for family shelters.

Samantha J. Gross of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.

Matt Stout can be reached at matt.stout@globe.com. Follow him @mattpstout.

Read more here:
Mass. migrant crisis: Overnight shelter in Cambridge to open - The Boston Globe

Officials are also incorporating concerns over migrants into their security planning for the convention. And the governors office has begun a public pleading and shaming campaign with the Biden administration to do more to stem migrant flows to the border and open up resources for states and municipalities to deal with migrant buses being sent to them.

Speaking to reporters recently, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said he is confident that local officials will be able to handle whatever spate of migrants arrive in the leadup to the convention as long as they get sufficient federal support.

We will manage it but we need to have the city and the state working together. We need the federal government at the table here, he said during a discussion put on by the University of Chicagos Institute of Politics.

Pritzker recently told CBS Face the Nation that someone needs to work in Texas with these border politicians to have them stop sending people only to blue cities and blue states.

That convention planners are having to strategize around a flow of migrants at all shows the degree to which migrants have become both a headache for Democrats in major cities and a national political issue.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnsons office said that its trying to get a handle on the migrant situation now so it wont be a problem when the Democratic Partys luminaries gather at the United Center to formally nominate a presidential nominee.

The administration sent a delegation to Texas border towns last week to better understand the process of moving migrants across the country.

I dont know if its a concern or just an additional challenge that we know that were going to have to deal with, Johnsons chief of staff Richard Guidice told POLITICO. He is tasked with helping to manage the behind-the-scenes logistical planning for the convention.

Optically you certainly want to show Chicago in its best light, said Guidice. As part of the process, you identify all things that potentially could happen in any large scale event.

The challenge for Chicago is trying to find inhabitable space. It costs money to remove asbestos in empty structures and make them livable, for example. Operations to get asylum-seekers off the floors of the airport and police stations before Chicagos notoriously frigid winter is challenging, too. And neither the city nor the state budgets have the surpluses needed.

Its expensive, said Jason Lee, the mayors chief adviser. But there is potentially a pathway to being able to manage the influx.

The confluence of incoming migrants just as the convention is revving up could also be a major security issue as well, added Lee. Extra bodies around creates a headache for security officials who need clear pathways for high-profile individuals.

Officials with the convention host committee in Chicago and the Democratic National Convention Committee largely dismissed the idea that the bussing of migrants could cause some sort of disruption or embarrassment.

The convention team supports the efforts of city and state officials working around the clock to ensure that migrants being sent to Chicago are treated with the dignity and respect that all human beings deserve, the convention planners said in a joint statement.

The party has sought to position itself as welcoming of immigrants. And Chicago, run by Democratic officials, also wants to be a welcoming city inside a welcoming state.

But Republicans have argued that such posturing is largely bluster and that, presented with the migrant numbers they face on a daily basis, blue states would change their tune. Chicago has seen more than 18,000 asylum seekers since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott started sending buses to Chicago in August 2022, according to Johnsons administration.

And frustration is mounting. Pritzker blamed Republican governors for sending people to our state like cargo in a dehumanizing attempt to score political points. It was part of a letter the Democratic governor wrote to President Joe Biden that called for more help in managing asylum seekers coming to Chicago.

His comment was a jab at Abbott, who has sent migrants to Chicago as well as New York City and Washington, D.C., over the past year.

Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Abbott, acknowledged that Texas has increased the number of migrants being sent to Illinois and other states. Texas has ramped up our busing mission to help our local partners in Eagle Pass and other border towns, and we are prepared to provide as many buses as necessary to provide relief to our overrun and overwhelmed border communities, he said in a statement to POLITICO.

Other cities including Denver and New York are sending asylum seekers to Illinois, too, often because the new arrivals request to go there.

After sending his letter, Pritzker said he got a quick response from White House officials. Representatives from the Department of Homeland Security, which is managing the humanitarian effort, visited Chicago recently to see first-hand the situation that has migrants sleeping on the floors of police stations and Chicago OHare International Airport where Democratic delegates will be arriving when they come for the convention next year.

The DHS team is working with Chicago officials to assess the current migrant situation and identify ways that the city and the federal government can improve efficiencies and maximize resources, said a person who didnt have authority to be named.

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Chicago faces a migrant crisis as it prepares to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention - POLITICO - POLITICO