On Tuesday, April 16th, over 1,000 African migrants gathered at City Hall to attend a hearing discussing the experiences of black migrants within the city’s shelter system.
However, many were motivated by the belief that their attendance might expedite the acquisition of work visas or green cards—a promise apparently circulated among them.
The hearing permitted only 250 individuals to enter, leaving the remaining hundreds who had gathered downtown outside in a nearby park. Footage captured them chanting and cheering amidst their exclusion.
Amadou Sara Bah, a 44-year-old who arrived in the United States last November, said, “They told me that they would help me to get a work permit and a green card if I came here today.”
The misinformation about visa and green card distribution seemed to stem from community elders, as noted by 19-year-old Dial Lochitlio, a recent arrival in New York.
“They told us to be here at this time on this date and they would give us more information,” Lochitlio explained, adding to the confusion and frustration among the migrants.
The hearing, conducted by the City Council’s Committees on Immigration and Hospitals, aimed to address several challenges faced by African migrants, including language barriers and cultural integration.
According to Manuel Castro, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office on Immigrant Affairs, the federal government needs to improve its language training offerings, as nearly 3,000 languages are spoken across Africa, complicating communication efforts.
Castro said, “Early on in the situation with the arrival of asylum seekers, it was primarily Venezuelan, Ecuadorians and other Spanish-speaking asylum seekers. But we started seeing more people from across the world arrive so there’s a bit of an adjustment period that we’re undergoing.”
Assitan Makadii of African Communities Together also arrived at the scene to provide accurate information and clarify the situation.
“They received some miscommunications, so we are here to provide clarification,” Makadii told the New York Post.
She also highlighted the dire circumstances of many migrants, some of whom have resorted to sleeping in subways due to lack of housing.
Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis described the crowds that gathered at City Hall on Tuesday as having a “sense of entitlement” fueled by Mayor Eric Adams’s policies.
Malliotakis on X stated, “Citizens of other countries believe that American citizens struggling to pay to keep a roof over their heads are responsible for housing them indefinitely.”
The city’s officials acknowledged the recent surge in African migrants and the need for a better-prepared system to assist them.
Speaker Adrienne Adams called for a collective national response to the challenges faced by migrants across the country.
“This is a national issue. It is not just a New York City issue or a Chicago issue or a Los Angeles issue. This is a national issue and the issue needs national attention,” Adams declared.
