Many millions of dollars have been invested by the city of New York in the development of a welcome site and admission center. These are for migrants who reach Manhattan via bus after traveling from the Texas border.
Located in the Hell’s Kitchen community of Manhattan, the “welcome center” was recently finished by the city and opened this week.
“The welcome centers that Mr. Adams’s @NYCImmigrants now sets up inside the Port Authority to meet the Abbott buses have provided desperately needed assistance to people who had been arriving in New York with no idea where to go or what to do.” https://t.co/6bth2T0dgB
— Connor Martinez (@Conito_Bonito) August 21, 2022
Its purpose is to provide migrants with a centralized location where they can obtain information about enrolling their children in public schools, finding employment, and housing.
This week saw the beginning of the center’s test phase, in which it opened its doors to the public.
Contracts and Service Providers
According to a source who is familiar with the endeavor, the idea and strategy are to have different city service providers on-site as a one-stop, one-time, get as many things accomplished as you can.
This was shared with the New York Post. The city signed a contract for $6.7 million the previous month in an effort to better accommodate the migrants who arrive daily from Texas.
This contract was used to cover the cost of the project. The site was not recently built and is currently located in a building run by the Red Cross. It was unclear how much exactly it would cost.
Catholic Charities, a charitable organization, is in charge of running the welcome center.
According to a report by the New York Post, the preliminary stages of planning have begun to construct an additional facility designed for the reception of newly arrived individuals.
Additionally, the administration is seeking to locate housing for 5,000 people throughout the city and received 18 offers from different contractors.
Approximately 7,600 migrants who traveled to New York City from the southern border on state-funded buses are currently participating in the city’s shelter program.
Busload After Busload
In April, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas made the announcement that the state would deploy contracted buses and drivers to give free transportation to migrants who were allowed into the United States from the southern border.
Operation Lone Star is keeping Texans – and Americans – safe.
Texas will continue to secure the border until Biden does his job.https://t.co/708a6h8ejG
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) September 1, 2022
The move was partly political, but it also served a logistical purpose by relieving strain on border towns that lacked sufficient Greyhound bus service to major cities in other sections of the state.
The roughly 8,000 individuals who voluntarily boarded the public transport to Washington DC and New York City since April are part of the more than one million inhabitants who have been released.
They’ve been released from the remand of Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and allowed to remain in the United States, pending judicial proceedings.
The one million people are permitted to travel anywhere in the country; however, many have chosen to take advantage of the free rides on state-funded buses, rather than pay for transportation out of their own pockets.
This article appeared in The Political Globe and has been published here with permission.
