No Hotel, No Work Permit: New Flyers Keep Migrants Away from New York

New York City is attempting to discourage migrants from coming to the Big Apple through new flyers highlighting “cannot help you obtain a work permit”. Available in English and Spanish language, the flyers warn that New York City is one of the most expensive cities in the world, and persuades them to go to a more affordable city. 

Moreover, it states that asylum seekers will not be placed in a hotel, and adds that one cannot easily find work. These flyers are part of New York’s campaign to dissuade migrants from coming to the city. It is also facing strain on resources because of the influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers. 

New York has to spend $387 a day for accommodation of migrant families, with a total cost to be $12 billion by 2025. 

Services Not Guaranteed for Migrants

Anne Williams-Isom, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services New York, said they basically want to caution migrants that services like hotel rooms and application help are not a guarantee. She explained that New York went all out to help during the beginning of the crisis. “We were able to put people in hotels. We’re no longer putting men and single adult families in hotels. We are helping to the extent that we can allow people to do their work authorization.” 

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Williams-Isom said the city is being truthful. “But we definitely do want to discourage people from coming here so that we can pretty much deal with the 113,000 people that are in our system right now.” She added that the city will distribute more such flyers and also post on social media. 

Is New York Being Selfish?

New York City has provided shelter and food to thousands of migrants and asylum seekers. However, the new flyers contradict Mayor Adams’ recently announced plans to help asylum seekers work legally and help find jobs. New York is working with state and federal officials to conduct a survey to identify people eligible for work permit and asylum. 

Furthermore, New York’s right-to-shelter rule attracted thousands of migrants. This may have been a political or election gimmick, but it did pull in migrants. And now the Big Apple is trying to discourage migrants.