A group of several dozen immigrants joined liberal Democratic politicians in New York City on Thursday to protest, demanding further increases in government benefits for “newcomers.”
The New York Immigrant Coalition joined Democratic lawmakers on the steps of City Hall to demand more funding for immigrants from the city budget. Caribbean Life.
Activists called for a series of spending increases, including an additional $109 million for free legal services for immigrants, $5 million for language services, $25 million in support for two city programs for undocumented immigrants and an end to policies that remove immigrants from shelters after a certain period of time.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams visits asylum seekers sheltering at James Madison High School in the Brooklyn borough of New York on January 9, 2024. (Benny Polatosek/Mayor’s Photo Office via The Associated Press)
City Council member Alexa Avilés, for example, called on New York City Mayor Eric Adams to increase spending on immigrants, adding that “our priorities remain very clear: legal services, school transition, language justice.”
City Council Member Shahana Hanif, who has advocated for permanent free housing for immigrants, said the city should prioritize “providing quality education, good jobs, adequate health care and dignified housing, reflecting our unwavering commitment to building a city that uplifts all New Yorkers, regardless of their immigration status or when they arrived.”
Hanif went on to argue that Biden’s wave of illegal immigrants are “our new neighbors” who face “obstacles in accessing housing, jobs and education.”
This is a sense of entitlement, Mayor of New York Citizens of other countries believe that Americans who are struggling to pay for housing owe it to them to house them indefinitely. https://t.co/78EvFCidud
— Office of Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (@RepMalliotakis) April 16, 2024
“When we invest in both newcomers and long-term immigrant New Yorkers and give them the tools they need to succeed, our city’s economy and culture will reap long-term benefits,” said Murad Awadeh, president of the New York Immigrant Coalition.
“Access to quality education, good jobs, housing, language services and health care, not austerity and exclusion, is what all New Yorkers need to get on the path to self-sufficiency,” he stressed. “As we welcome our new neighbors to our great city, we call on the Mayor and City Council to keep fighting for immigrants and working New Yorkers.”
Immigrants have increasingly protested what they say is an inadequate supply of free aid, food, housing, education and legal services in the country. In April, hundreds of African-Americans protested outside New York City government buildings, demanding more funding and free services.
New York State Governor Kathy Hochle spoke, joined by New York City Mayor Eric Adams. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
Last week, a news outlet in Rochester, New York, interviewed immigrants who complained that the city and state were not keeping their promises to them.
Yet New York City has already $1.45 billion The government has been tackling immigration issues for the last year and could end up spending a staggering $12 billion over the next three years.
Also this year, New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hawkle, managed to pass a $237 billion budget that added $2.4 billion to immigration efforts.
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