Democrats in New York City have been heckled by protestors who are calling for an end to the migrant crisis, chanting “send them back!”
Alexandria Osasio-Cortez (AOC), Jerry Nadler and Adriano Espaillat alongside other democrats were heckled during a press conference on the city’s migrant crisis.
One protestor, Johnathan Rinaldi, who is a Queens City Council candidate, shouted “send them back!”
Another cried: “Close the border, close the border. Respect the constitution AOC. I am your constituent.”
An asylum seeker looks out a window of a school bus as he arrives with others at a tent shelter built to house newly arrived migrants
Reuters
The Democrats spoke outside of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, which has become a relief centre for migrants.
“What we seek to do is to make sure that all the resources are necessary and that we are joining with the city and state,” Ocasio-Cortez said to the unruly crowds.
She was quickly interrupted by a man wielding a megaphone, who shouted “Illegal immigration is not right! Respect the constitution, close the border”.
Espaillat said: “We see so many stories, heartbreaking stories manifest itself here. What I think, these are folks that will take New York City to a better place," he said as people kept shouting out in the background.
“Every crisis presents great opportunity. There's hope and opportunity in this building," Espaillat continued, noting that "this is a contentious issue," gesturing toward the protesters who broke out in another chant of "close the border!”
The city has received more than 110,000 migrants in the past year.
“I think that there are three points of consensus here that are very important in getting a solution to that issue," Ocasio-Cortez then said, despite the heckling. "The first is that there is consensus here across geographies and state on increased federal resources to cities and municipalities dealing with this issue.”
“The second is to allow for work authorizations so that folks in here can get to work and start supporting themselves as soon as possible. They are prevented from getting jobs. They are prevented from employment and that is part of the strain on our public systems,” she added.
“The faster that folks can access the work that they're asking for, legally, the better we can solve this problem.”
David Re, 59, a protestor, insisted that migrants had “jumped” the immigration line.
“My wife’s children, Diego and Lina, have been waiting seven long years in Medellin, Colombia, to come to this country legally. They have paid all the immigration fees and have been fingerprinted by the FBI. They have done everything right — they have been waiting and they haven’t broken federal law by crossing the border illegally, so why not them?” he told the New York Post.
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A demonstrator stands near a sign during a protest against the opening of a shelter center for recently arrived migrants to New York
Reuters
“From the bottom of my heart, I implore Biden to close the border. It’s two years overdue. If you keep rewarding people for breaking federal law by crossing the border and coming to New York illegally, it’s never going to stop,” he said.
New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams has warned that the crisis has the power to “destroy” the city.
The mayor said at a town hall meeting last week: “I’m gonna tell you something, New Yorkers, never in my life have I had a problem that I didn’t see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this.
He stressed: “This issue will destroy New York City. Destroy New York City.”
A bus filled with migrants sent up from Texas first arrived in New York in August 2022.
Since then, 13,0000 more asylum seekers originally located in Texas, have arrived by bus to the city, according to data shared by Adams.
