Asylum-Seekers Who Came Months Ago Still Say they Lack Housing, Legal Help Due to Immigration Status

Olga Rodriguez and her two boys were among the hundreds who went Monday to Riverbank Park in West Harlem to get free food, health coverage, and other kinds of assistance, having heard of the MetroPlus insurance company-sponsored event from her pastor. She and many others there are migrants who arrived in New York City months ago and are now trying to find their footing. 

The Colombian has been in the city since July, arriving around the time Mayor Eric Adams first acknowledged an uptick in asylum seekers coming to New York. Since then, she said she’s felt “atada” — which roughly translates to feeling powerless. 

Rodriguez lives in an emergency shelter in the Bronx with her children but hasn’t secured stable housing. She’s been unable to find work, given that her kids can’t be left alone at the shelter. And she needs money for a lawyer to assist her with her asylum case, but because she has no work, she has no income. 

New York continues to experience a wave of asylum seekers, many of whom arrive in the city without a place to stay. But migrants are struggling to leave shelters, with several key housing programs unavailable to them because of their immigration status. Many also don’t have access to free legal services to help them manage their asylum cases in federal immigration court, as they apply to be granted permanent stay in the United States.

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