NYC's Migrant Crisis: A Citywide Struggle

Summary

In this episode of Your Voice Matters, the focus is on immigration in New York City, a hot topic this election cycle due to its unique impact on local communities. Unlike the broader national narrative, immigration in NYC is a personal experience, entwined with the city's identity. Highlighted is the dynamic in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, where migrant shelters have altered community life, sparking diverse opinions and challenges, such as the lack of work authorization for migrants. The discussion touches on national politics and the differing stances of political figures, while emphasizing the need for specific reforms in work authorization processes to ameliorate the situation.

Highlights

• Clinton Hill's community dynamics are shifting with the presence of two migrant shelters housing over 4,000 men. 🏢
• Residents express concern over the lack of resources and changes in neighborhood vibe. 🤔
• The basketball team "Raccoons" in Corona, Queens, exemplifies immigrants finding community and belonging. ⛹️
• Work authorization for migrants is a major issue, with calls for faster processing times. ⏳
• Immigration remains a heated topic in the elections, with significant implications for NYC. 🔥

Key Takeaways

• Immigration is central to NYC's identity, with 37% of residents being immigrants! 🗽
• Local communities like Clinton Hill face challenges with new migrant shelters altering daily life. 🏙️
• There's a strong call for more efficient work authorization processes for migrants. ✍️
• Differences in political approaches to immigration reflect varied priorities and potential impacts. 🗳️
• The episode highlights the importance of community voices in shaping policy discussions. 🎤

Overview

Immigration in New York City is a deeply personal and pressing issue. Unlike in some parts of the United States, where immigration might be an abstract political talking point, in NYC, it's a lived reality. With a large percentage of the population being immigrants, the city's rich tapestry of communities illustrates how embedded immigration is in the daily life of New Yorkers.

Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, serves as a microcosm of the broader challenges and discussions surrounding immigration. Here, local residents and new arrivals share space but sometimes clash due to resource strains and differing community expectations. The opening of migrant shelters has dramatically shifted the community dynamic, with long-time residents like Yuko Marshall expressing both compassion for newcomers and concern over neighborhood changes.

The need for swifter and more humane immigration processes is apparent in the lively exchanges featured in this episode. While political figures debate policies on a grand scale, individuals in New York City face the immediate impacts of these decisions daily. From work authorization to community support systems, the path forward is paved with complexity, but also immense potential for enriching New York's social and economic fabric.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Context In the chapter titled 'Introduction and Context,' the focus is on immigration as a significant topic in the upcoming election cycle, especially in New York. Unlike the national perspective, many New Yorkers support comprehensive immigration reform and the use of federal lands for temporary migrant centers. However, there is concern among about 30% of the population regarding the impacts of these migrant centers on local communities, such as those in Clinton Hill. The chapter sets the stage for a deeper discussion on this issue in the episode titled 'Your Voice Matters.'
• 00:30 - 01:30: New York's Unique Immigration Fabric This chapter delves into the integral role immigration plays in New York's identity. It discusses the symbolic importance of the Statue of Liberty as a beacon for immigrants with its iconic message. The chapter highlights that 37% of New York's population consists of immigrants, illustrating the city's diverse fabric. Additionally, it touches on how immigration is emerging as a pivotal topic in the current election cycle.
• 01:30 - 02:30: Corona Queens Basketball Team: A Case Study The chapter discusses the unique impact of immigration on New York City, emphasizing that it is an integral element of the city's identity. The narrative confronts the tendency to view immigration as an abstract or anonymous phenomenon, highlighting instead its tangible presence in neighborhoods like Little Italy, Chinatown, and Korea Town. The chapter seeks to personalize the immigration story by focusing on lived experiences.
• 02:30 - 04:30: Impact of Migrant Shelters in Clinton Hill The chapter titled 'Impact of Migrant Shelters in Clinton Hill' discusses a basketball team in Corona, Queens called the raccoons, which was covered by epicenter NYC. This team, started by David Valencia and his partner Lorena Valero, is notable for comprising primarily immigrants and migrant children, many of whom are bilingual in English and Spanish.
• 04:30 - 08:00: Policy Discussion and Political Perspectives This chapter discusses the role of a basketball team in helping kids adapt to a new environment by learning English and finding a sense of belonging, especially in a city that can sometimes seem unwelcoming based on reporting in recent years.
• 08:00 - 11:00: Economic Contributions and Challenges This chapter, titled 'Economic Contributions and Challenges,' delves into personal experiences and broader societal issues related to immigration. It opens with a personal story about playing basketball as a way to integrate and make friends, highlighting the supportive environment created by bilingual communication. The narrative then shifts to the national dialogue, addressing why a significant portion of Americans view immigration as a top issue, influenced by political campaigns and media discussions. The chapter explores the complexities and challenges surrounding immigration, emphasizing both the personal and collective dimensions.

NYC's Migrant Crisis: A Citywide Struggle Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 immigration will be an important topic this election cycle but it's a bit different here in New York than how the national political campaigns frame it look here most people want comprehensive immigration reform most people support the use of federal lands for temporary migrant centers but about 30% of New Yorkers also are concerned about what those migrant Centers do to communities like in Clinton Hill so that's our issue on this episode of your voice matters
• 00:30 - 01:00 [Music] so fam immigration is kind of part of the DNA of New York and we've literally got the Statue of Liberty telling people give me your tired your poor huddle masses right so how has immigration become kind of almost a different topic for this election cycle what's really interesting about New York is 37% of all New Yorkers are immigrants and that's
• 01:00 - 01:30 doesn't even include first generation kids so when we talk about immigration in the city unlike other places around the country we're not talking about you know this abstract idea we're talking about things that like we all live and we all experience this we see this in like Little Italy Chinatown Korea Town all of our neighborhoods so immigration is undeniably a part of just the fabric of New York City there is a tendency sometimes when we talk about a big idea like this to make it kind of nameless faceless people how did you tackle this
• 01:30 - 02:00 story yeah so in order to avoid that because that is undeniably my pet peeve I started in Corona Queens with a basketball team named the raccoons we met them during a story that epicenter NYC covered it was started by David Valencia and his partner Lorena Valero and what's so interesting about this team is the team is made up of primarily immigrants and migrant kids some who speak English some who speak Spanish some who speak both
• 02:00 - 02:30 [Music] and so this basketball team is able to not only help kids learn English but it also helps them find belonging especially when they find themselves in a new city and a city that sometimes you know can appear hostile based off of just some of the reporting that we've seen over the past few years why do you want to join this
• 02:30 - 03:00 because I wanted to play basketball for fun and to make friends CU I have my like my coaches and my friends that they support me do you like playing on a team where everybody speaks English and Spanish why because I can understand them more because they speak both languages we know why 28% of Americans might think immigration is the number one topic right you see campaign ads you see all the national kind of chatter about this but why is it so important in
• 03:00 - 03:30 neighborhoods in New York City yeah so you take a neighborhood like Clinton Hill in Brooklyn in Clinton Hill two migrant shelters opened up and when they are at capacity it has enough beds for just over 4,000 men and so you think about the small neighborhood of Clinton Hill and that is a high volume of people that were placed in the neighborhood without a lot of resources according to a lot of the community members that live there goes from one end the block to the other go so that
• 03:30 - 04:00 from rising to Hall from Hall Park Avenue to Flushing Yuko Marshall she's a construction worker and she really explains how having these shelters in Clinton Hill have really impacted just the community Vibe and their way of life what's your favorite memory when you were a kid being raised what was your favorite memory just the neighborhood like the neighborhood was neighbor hoodish all the all the families get got along we had bigp parties here like you know got in trouble someone knew about
• 04:00 - 04:30 it yukiko's family has been there for over 60 years they were the first black family when they moved on the Block and so Yuko grew up there I spoke to a couple of different people in the neighborhood um they all tell me that it went from a lot of the elderly folks spending their Summers for example outside on the Stoops and now that Comfort level is gone yeah yeah they don't come out I mean the days are short youed to come out with here car tables and music and just up and down the street stroll and go across streets to
• 04:30 - 05:00 one another's homes sit do garden stuff like that that don't happen anymore and why tell me exactly why the disrespect they'll sit on your steps roll their weed up smoke their weed drinking fighting talking and if you ask them to move or you ask them can you please like you r on the Block they'll get disrespectful someone listening to this might say that uh some of the complaints in the neighborhood are biased or anti-immigrant or xenophobic what do you
• 05:00 - 05:30 say to that no absolutely not we feed them we clothe them I've getting weigh so much I mean and I'm I'm looking around like the winter is coming I got to give this guy something like these are people they are human beings they don't deserve to get kicked out of the shelter 6:00 in the morning can't go back into certain time of night put the 4,000 people in one imagine putting 100 people in this building what would happen right you go crazy right I just feel like this is a bad situation and it's right in front of my face I've never came this close to how people are
• 05:30 - 06:00 being abused on both sides when all of these new visitors so to speak are in this neighborhood and and a lot of them are men in these shelters what are they doing during the day yeah and that's exactly some of the frustrations that a lot of the neighbors have they want to know why they aren't able to get work authorization so that they can have things to do during the day they can't work legally they can't work right I believe most of them have skills they just come here they got
• 06:00 - 06:30 painters Carpenters chefs why are we not letting them because the system is is broken right so that goes back to elections how you going to fix so let's go upstairs to the federal race and the different viewpoints that Donald Trump and kamla Harris have about immigration Harris criticizes family separation and supports allowing undocumented spouses of citizens to apply for a green card on her website she says flat out that she knows the system is broken and reform
• 06:30 - 07:00 includes stronger security and an earned Pathway to citizenship between speeches and advisers what we're hearing is that Trump wants to reinstate some of his more punitive immigration policies from his last term like the remain in Mexico program he also wants to ramp up large scale Mass deportations to discourage future waves of Asylum Seekers but I do want to Circle back to yukiko's point that she made earlier about work authorization neither of the candidates have mentioned bring in an earlier
• 07:00 - 07:30 version of work authorization so that it doesn't take so long neither Harris nor Trump has mentioned that Felipe de laas who is on the editorial board of the Daily News and who writes a lot of our analysis pieces over at epicenter NYC He suggests that Asylum Seekers are processed using a system similar to refugees what I have advocated for for some time is that we have an infrastructure for Refugee resettlement that is pretty robust sometimes people have a tendency to see immigration with such kind of a broad brush that the
• 07:30 - 08:00 terms underneath it like what kind of immigrant you are whether you're an asylum Seeker or whether you're a refugee they all just kind of get lumped in into the same bundle yeah immigration is complicated make no mistake I even myself will sometimes get very confused in terms of refugee versus Asylum Seeker so a lot of the differen is how they come into the country and how they're processed someone seeking Asylum has to meet the same criteria as a refugee but since Asylum seek ERS enter the country
• 08:00 - 08:30 on their own they're stuck in this sort of legal limbo until their date before an Immigration Court if there were supports in place to you know to provide work authorization and legal services and maybe like some housing assistance not just in shelter but like to obtain housing maybe not in New York City you know I've said before that I think it makes sense to to look elsewhere right where maybe housing is a little bit cheaper and there's a greater labor demand but like set them up in a way where the path to self efficiency is is
• 08:30 - 09:00 much shorter people might B at kind of The Upfront costs which will be higher but in the long run I think the cost would be far lower so then what's the bottom line for New Yorkers who want to just vote in a way that gives them the best city possible think about like who's actually articulated policies that seem workable because a lot of this is just R think about not just like today right now but like in a year in 5 years where does this end the
• 09:00 - 09:30 best I would also say like let's try to keep some of the numbers in mind here right the population of New York City is I think 8.3 million right now roughly so that's far less than like half a percent like you know it's just nothing I mean it's just like not going to move the needle and New York City has been losing population right we lost a congressional seat or two even um because we you know our population decreased in the last senses he might be beneficial to have a
• 09:30 - 10:00 little bit of kind of additional intake to kind of supplant maybe some of the Lost Workforce what do you think about immigration in general the government needs to make it more easier for people to be like U legal and I think the process is it just takes too long and it's too tedious since you had these different conversations how do you think that how important is immigration as a topic to this election it is very complicated much like All Things New York city so one thing that Felipe points out is that
• 10:00 - 10:30 immigrants are vital to New York they are economic drivers you think about the ways that a lot of immigrants they create businesses that is something important to our local economy but at the same time when you look at a community like Clinton Hill they would like for this community that they they've loved they've lived in they grew up in they would like it to go back to having you know the services that they used to have okay um what about the neighborhood here in Queens yeah so Corona has a very large
• 10:30 - 11:00 immigrant and first generation population and so their feelings on immigration kind of varied um but one consistent thing that we did hear was just really the vast amount of patriotism that everyone had are you planning on voting in this election congratulations so will this be your first election that you'll vote in oh that's so exciting outsider
• 11:00 - 11:30 [Music]