Welcoming Migrants
September - December 2023 Recap
This year, ICNY has been a passionate leader assisting New York City’s recent asylum-seekers, estimated to be around 70,000. To do this work, we have partnered with New York Disaster Interfaith Services on the Asylum Seeker Shelter Program, which program seeks to recruit 50 houses of worship that can shelter asylum seekers. Additionally, with Trinity Church Wall Street’s support, we created the “Equipping Houses of Worship to Support Migrants,” which distributes small grants to faith communities offering services and shelter to asylum seekers.
In addition to the material needs of providing shelter and food to our newest New Yorkers, ICNY has been adamant about elevating advocacy efforts. In September, we “Toward A Covenant On Behalf Of New York’s Newest New Yorkers,” a living document from faith leaders and lay activists outlining how the government can partner with community leaders to offer safe, dignified, and moral care to asylum seekers. The covenant has over 375 signatures and been presented at press conferences at City Hall, Staten Island, and Albany. To add your name and/or organization, please click here.
Our interfaith coalition has been active in protesting the demand to suspend the right to shelter, a request that came out of Mayor Adams’ and Governor Hochul’s administration earlier this year. If authorized, the population of houseless individuals in our city would escalate, only exacerbating our current crisis. The NY SANE coalition, which includes the Coalition for the Homeless, The Legal Aid Society, Win, the Episcopal Diocese of New York, and Housing Justice for All, has supported numerous actions in recent weeks to protest the suspension. For instance, advocates participated in a “sleep-in” in front of Gracie Mansion on November 16 and in a rally December 5 at Bowling Green.
In addition to defending the right-to-shelter mandate, our partners are keeping an eye on the processing of working permits for our newest New Yorkers – a bureaucratic delay preventing economic empowerment and independence. Likewise, we have witnessed setbacks in processing applications for essential services, such as SNAP. Communities have been active in providing legal and translation services, in addition to material needs, such as food and clothing, but there is much more work to be done.