The New York Times is portraying the city’s illegal migrant street vendors as selfless heroes, even though they bring significant economic challenges for regular New Yorkers.
The headline of the article, “For Senegalese Street Vendors in New York, ‘Work Is Worship,’” glosses over the fact that these underprivileged migrants often survive by selling counterfeit goods, paying inflated rents by overcrowding in apartments, and avoiding the taxes that legitimate retailers contribute.
Author Aimee Ortiz seems to overlook these issues, instead celebrating the vendors’ lawbreaking ways:
Khadim Ndiaye, a 33-year-old vendor, starts his day in a shared Bronx apartment before heading to Canal Street, where he sells sunglasses featuring popular brand logos to people passing by.
Most of these vendors are men who left their wives and families back in Senegal.
Ortiz, along with her editors, subtly acknowledges the harsh border policies during President Biden’s administration that have led to migrant fatalities:
Mr. Ndiaye is among many Senegalese migrants who have crossed the Atlantic from Dakar and embarked on a treacherous journey through South and Central America to reach New York, hoping to improve their lives and those of their families back home.
The article expresses a favorable view of diversity, even lauding Islam, despite its association with limitations on democracy, human rights, and economic growth:
While Senegalese immigrants have long been present in the city, a recent influx of new arrivals, especially young men seeking asylum, face considerable challenges adjusting and finding work. The immigration restrictions during the Trump administration have exacerbated their difficulties, particularly for members of the Baye Fall, a Sufi Muslim sect where labor and prayer are intertwined. With limited job options, many turned to street vending.
The article’s use of “newcomer” reflects a newly adopted euphemism by progressives, suggesting that American citizens should no longer have the authority to regulate who enters their society.
Unfortunately for these migrants, the Trump administration’s 2024 deportation policies include expedited asylum processes that reject 95 percent of these claims. Local authorities rarely intervene, partly due to the city’s mayor, who was born in Uganda and is supportive of increasing the migrant population.
Los Angeles faces a similar challenge with illegal street vendors overshadowing lawful merchants, as the local government adopts a more lenient stance towards migrants.
The newspaper portrays these migrants as almost saintly, ignoring the crime issues surrounding them while framing the economic migrants as altruistic:
Despite the many hardships and biases he faces, Mr. Ndiaye believes he and fellow newcomers aspire to support their families and contribute positively to the nation.
However, President Trump’s ICE agents are striving to combat the crime issue, as reported by NY1.com:
ICE informed NY1: “Ngagne [Gagne Diagne] has multiple arrests related to felony trademark counterfeiting and public order offenses. He was released on August 19 due to a court order and will receive the proper due process.”
…
Diagne stated that he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in April 2023 and was briefly held in Texas before being permitted to continue with his asylum application.
The newspaper also downplays the elitist-driven economic exploitation of these illegal immigrants, while minimizing their status as a lower economic class within New York’s Democratic political landscape:
Malamine Bamba, 33, who undertook a perilous journey through South America to arrive in the United States about two years ago, views his work as a sacred mission. He’s often seen in colorful Baye Fall attire, selling café touba, a coffee brewed from special beans, at Le Petit Sénégal. On good days, he can earn between $80 and $90, which he uses to support his family back in Senegal while working to repay a $10,000 debt owed to smugglers who aided his journey, of which he has paid off about half.
The newspaper did not solicit comments on the article.
Its stance on immigration aligns with progressive ideologies, which often provoke Americans’ anxieties while presenting migrants as an exciting alternative to a supposedly exhausted native population.
“Immigration is vital to New York City’s very essence,” stated Nancy Foner, a former sociology professor at Hunter College who advocates reducing the influence of American citizens regarding their borders. In a piece for VitalCityNYC.org, she wrote:
Remarkably, after several decades of significant influx from abroad, more than one-third of New Yorkers are immigrants, numbering around 3.1 million in a city of nearly 8.5 million people. With their U.S.-born children, they now constitute almost half the population, predominantly hailing from Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The city is also led by a foreign-born mayor, the first Muslim to assume this role, who was born in Uganda to South Asian parents.
“Immigrants are fundamentally reshaping this country,” reads a blurb endorsing Foner’s latest book, further stating:
Currently, nearly eighty-six million immigrants and their children reside in the United States. Their presence has significantly altered the American narrative and its foundational institutions.
In other sections of the New York Times, the economic struggles of New Yorkers due to migration are often casually mentioned.
On October 25, the newspaper released an article titled “Can’t Afford a Home. Can’t Afford a Baby. Can’t Afford Life. This Is 30.” The piece highlighted the financial dilemmas American citizens face in New York, where an influx of migrants has provided businesses with lower-cost labor and led to increased rents:
Many professionals in their 30s have been pushed to the brink recently, with many relocating to raise families—adding to a crisis in New York City’s school enrollments.
…
A 33-year-old nonprofit lawyer in Manhattan felt it somewhat shameful to admit that his parents are buying him a home. It seems to be the only way that his peers are managing to become homeowners.
A college-educated couple, both 32, residing in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, anonymously shared their concerns regarding these pressures, revealing that it has made them rethink starting a family. The husband discovered that, adjusted for inflation, his earnings have only increased by $5,000 since 2020.
In contrast, President Trump’s fluctuating immigration policies are believed to be helping reduce rents for Americans and elevate wages.
California is also starting to take action against unlicensed street vendors:
