NEW YORK: As New York continues to see a large number of migrants arriving in the city, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today highlighted the unique challenges faced by Black migrants. At a City Council joint hearing of the Committees on Immigration and Hospitals, he emphasized that the stories of Black immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean often fall on deaf ears, and that this lack of prioritization leads to disparate harm. “Black migrants have shared their experiences facing racism and anti-Blackness within a system that historically deports, detains, and confines Black migrants at a higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. “These are realities the city has to grapple with, and in order to make any progress, we must hear directly from those living these realities. From the local to the federal level, my office and I have been calling for greater resource allocation for Black migrants, and this hearing is a great starting point.” Public Advocate Williams, who is the son of Grenadian immigrants, pointed to language barriers as a key component of undeserving Black immigrant communities, and urged equity in housing and other city services, saying “Language accessibility is a lifeline for immigrants and opens doors to legal services, housing, economic empowerment, and other opportunities…Many of these migrants are navigating an entirely new city, culture, language, and systems after what may have been a long and harrowing journey just to get here. On top of all that, they may face increased scrutiny, xenophobia, and racism just by nature of being a Black immigrant. The city, among the existing and future resources it provides and distributes, must ensure that at minimum, there is equity of resources above all else.” At a press conference prior to the hearing, over 1,000 people were estimated to be outside City Hall, an unprecedented turnout for a hearing. There, the Public Advocate called the sight “one of the most beautiful things” he had seen in his time in elected office, declared it a “proud moment” and pledged that “today, they will hear you.”
Read the Public Advocate’s statement as delivered below.
STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEES ON IMMIGRATION AND HOSPITALS APRIL 16, 2024
Good morning,
My name is Jumaane D. Williams and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. Thank you to Chair Avilés, Chair Narcisse, and members of the Committees on Immigration and Hospitals for holding this important hearing and for allowing me to share my statement. Speaking as the son of Black immigrants in particular, Chair Avilés, thank you for seeing the importance and prioritizing Black immigrants in this community - you really have, and thank you so much for that. And I just wanted to shout out - you spoke a lot about the advocates, so shout out to all of them, but I just wanted to shout out someone who for decades has been doing this work and has been a godmother to many of us on Black issues, and that’s Bertha Lewis of the Black Institute, thank you for all the work you do.
New York City has been responding to an influx of migrants to the city since 2022. Migrants are arriving from all over the world; they come from different cultures, practice various traditions, and speak a multitude of languages. This is nothing new for a city like New York. The city has done a great deal in responding to this influx, yet resource allocation could be more equitable than it is now, particularly for Black migrants coming from Caribbean and African countries, I want to make sure we lift up Sudan, Congo, and Haiti in particular, who are often left out of the news, as well as some of the other nations in Africa and the Caribbean. Black migrants have shared their experiences facing racism and anti-Blackness within a system that historically deports, detains, and confines Black migrants at a higher rate than any other racial or ethnic group. These are realities the city has to grapple with, and in order to make any progress, we must hear directly from those living these realities. From the local to the federal level, my office and I have been calling for greater resource allocation for Black migrants, and this hearing is a great starting point.
At this juncture, the city should be well aware that with migrants coming from all over the world, they also speak a wide variety of languages – as was mentioned, this is not a monolith. As a result, city resources should also be in-language as much as possible. Black migrants particularly feel the impacts of language barriers, especially if they do not speak English or Spanish. They are more likely to speak languages like Arabic, French, Haitian Creole, Wolof, Mandinka, or Fula, and city resources and information in these languages are more difficult to come by. Just now at the press conference, myself and Council Member Hudson were telling folks they could get medical assistance in emergency rooms, particularly in city hospitals – something that they did not know, mostly likely because of language access. Language accessibility is a lifeline for immigrants and opens doors to legal services, housing, economic empowerment, and other opportunities. With a preliminary survey of languages that Black migrants speak–which many CBOs already have data on–the city should increase its language capacity accordingly.
Another crucial point of discussion I wish to uplift is the impact of housing and shelter on Black migrants. With the city’s ongoing 30- and 60-day notices to evict migrant shelter residents–which disproportionately affects African migrants–we may see and hear of more instances of migrants sheltering in storefronts and in extreme congregate settings because they have nowhere else to go. We are also witnessing unaccompanied youth at the whims of the shelter system, some of whom are categorized as adults if they are over the age of 18, despite attending NYCDOE high schools. With these shelter notices, some have to decide between attending school or reapplying for a shelter placement, which is not a same-day guarantee. These experiences reflect a number of oversights in the city’s response, and my hope is that the administration is made aware of the situation and commits to ramping up case management for these unaccompanied migrant youths.
Many of these migrants are navigating an entirely new city, culture, language, and systems after what may have been a long and harrowing journey just to get here. On top of all that, they may face increased scrutiny, xenophobia, and racism just by nature of being a Black immigrant. The city, among the existing and future resources it provides and distributes, must ensure that at minimum, there is equity of resources above all else.
I want to remind folks that applying for asylum is a legal way to be in this city — and also push the White House to do more, and Governor Hochul to do more, they are not. New York City cannot do this by itself, I do know there is a gargantuan effort, and with some of those efforts I just want to thank the city for trying, but we do know that even has we await more resources, we have to make sure those resources are applied equitably and humanely and we have some work to do in those two categories.
Thank you.
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