By: Brayden Yin

Migrants in recent years have flooded into New York City to escape factors such as government violence in their home countries. As many are relocated to sanctuary cities such as Albany, many of them face hostility from localities.

Over 60,000 migrants and asylum seekers were received in New York City last year, and city officials say that they are overwhelmed. Because of the overflow of migrants, officials have started to send people to communities upstate.

Johnson Coronel is one migrant who was relocated. He and his brother left Venezuela months ago to escape government violence. He requested asylum at the Texas border, and he lived in two shelters while in Texas, one in Brownsville, one in San Antonio. He ended up in a New York City shelter after a relative asked him to leave his home in Boston. The living conditions were very crowded, and there were 12 people per room.

“It’s a lot of instability,” says Coronel. “But the situation in Venezuela has gotten impossible. You can’t walk down the street without a government official shaking you down for money every couple of blocks. We just want to work and live in peace.”

Officials told him and his brother that Albany would be less crowded, and they immediately agreed to go. Albany is a “sanctuary city”, where immigrants are welcomed. In non-sanctuary cities, such as Colonie, a village 20 minutes away from Albany, immigrants have a constant fear of deportation. New York State has become a battleground around immigration, and relations between the city, towns, and activists have become bitter and angry as the debate continues.

Another problem is that migrants often do not have a working permit, meaning that they legally cannot work

Immigration is a contentious topic, and this is exacerbated as many are sent upstate from New York City.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/18/1181933592/for-many-migrants-being-bused-from-new-york-city-to-other-towns-hostility-awaits