Only Small Percentage of NYC Migrants Have Applied for Work

Photo byAlex KotliarskyionUnsplash

Fewer than 2,100 of the migrants in the care of New York City have requested work permits, and not a single one has received federal approval, municipal authorities acknowledged on Wednesday. At a municipal council session, authorities admitted that they still do not know with certainty how many of the more than 40,000 adult asylum seekers they are sheltering are even qualified to work in the country.

According to the New York Post, Council Member Robert Holden (D-Queens) said, "This migrant strategy is going nowhere fast: We have to secure the border."

The city's migrant assistance center has so far submitted 444 job applications, and 1,700 more were submitted with assistance from the federal agents. Officials admit that none have brought a federal seal of approval back.

Only 300 of the 2,100 job applications were for Venezuelans. Holden stated, "We cannot advocate forgoing regular immigration procedures and extending TPS (Temporary Protected Status) without guaranteeing those in need actually make use of the protection. The migrant situation requires serious consideration as well as ongoing action."

Following requests from Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams, who argued that working would enable them to exit New York City's overburdened shelter system more quickly, the Biden administration expanded protections for people fleeing the country experiencing extreme poverty as long as they crossed the border before August.

But because officials are still unaware of who should be seeking for work permits, City Hall has failed to even begin outreach to those folks.

The city began a "sprint" to survey the tens of thousands of asylum seekers in New York City, which was expected to be completed in a few weeks after it received criticism from the federal government and the state for not obtaining enough information on the immigrants under its care.

Asylum Application Help Center executive director Masha Gindler stated that the evaluation "will give us a lot of the information to see who is eligible and who we are able to call back and schedule appointments at the center."

At that time, 800 work permit applications had been submitted.

Gindler reported that five weeks later, the city was still awaiting the findings and wouldn't even fully agree to the mayor's estimate of 15,000 Venezuelans who were eligible for employment.

But she claimed that the city had an exapansive goal. Gindler stated, "“Our goal is to identify screen and schedule appointments for all Venezuelans by the end of the year.”

130,600 migrants have passed through NYC since the crisis began, and 65,400 of them are remain in the city's custody.