‘Black Migrant Experience’ Hearing Draws Hundreds of Illegal Immigrants to NYC City Hall
New York City Council members held a hearing on the “black migrant experience” in the metropolitan that attracted approximately one thousand illegal immigrants to the City Hall building on Tuesday morning.
The hearing was organized by City Council Member Alexa Avilés, the chair of the Committee on Immigration, to better “understand how the [New York City Mayor Eric Adams] Administration is addressing language access barriers, cultural competency challenges, health needs, and other roadblocks,” according to a local report.
“Today’s hearing centers the experiences of Black immigrants in NYC and has turned out over 1000 people,” Council Member Avilés wrote on social media. “We must uproot the anti-Blackness that plagues our systems of care.”
Alongside her post, Avilés shared a video of her statements to reporters and the crowd in which she said, “If you are not overwhelmed by the beautiful black faces that are present here today, and surrounding city hall, something is profoundly wrong with you.”
City Councilmember Sandy Nurse also posted, “The experiences of Black migrants is [sic] very different than other groups and I’m proud that the Council is highlighting this disparity.”
Just last month, Mayor Adams’ Social Services Commissioner, Molly Wasow, told the City Council that the average cost to care for a single migrant household has risen to $388. The city has spent $2.4 billion since July 2022, and should the current rate of illegal immigrants migrating to the Big Apple continue, the mayor expects to spend $10 billion by 2025, which his office touted as a budgeting success despite what he called a “perfect fiscal storm.”
Mayor Adams was previously quoted saying that the migration crisis would “destroy New York City,” adding, “I don’t see an ending to this.”
New Yorkers have voiced concerns too, most notably during a press conference held by U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents New York’s 14th congressional district, in which outraged residents interjected with chants of “close the border.”
