We don’t have a crisis of immigration on our hands, but a crisis of kindness and accountability.

At the base of the Statue of Liberty, on a plaque at its lower level, a poem “The New Colossus” has a stanza which has been quoted by activists and politicians alike since it’s construction.

"Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

This quote, this idea, has been one of the bedrocks in which America has sold itself to the rest of the world as an example of freedom and democracy. In the land of plenty, milk and honey, the unwanted and the disavowed immigrants will be welcomed in America. In fact, they will not only find a home in our country but  prosper and have opportunities at their feet unlike any place else in the world. The reality, however, has been pretty far from this, as under the Trump administration jingoism and xenophobia were ramped up and became rampant, turning human lives into political footballs. As far-right politicians and pro Trump forces looked to paint asylum seekers and refugees as an invading force, or an amoral lawless scourge threatening to devour everyone and everything in their path, sanctuary cities, and grass-roots community action looked to step into the breach on their behalf to lesser and greater effect depending on the location and the group. One of the most petty, dangerous and cruel practices were the actions of Governors in Florida and Texas who under the guise of a state of emergency bused tens of thousands of refugees to northern cities and states, and in more than a few cases to the addresses of their political rivals across the aisle. In some of these cases they were sent in substandard conditions (having already endured subsistent and inhumane conditions upon arrival in those original locales) to areas that were not expecting nor were prepared to receive them. A stain and a shame on all of our houses. In the current administration the language and messaging has been kinder, and some of the actions taken as well, but it still has felt scattered and not enough.

As a New Yorker, I live in a sanctuary city and currently, since the spring of last year, upwards of  65,000 asylum seekers have landed in New York City alone. As the Trump administration gave way to the Biden administration, the vitriol and venom, at least in the political arena, has softened some, but the tens of thousands of families, men, women and children are still punted back and forth across the political field. The  unanswered question for the immigrants and the politicians is an age-old one, “who's going to pay for this”? Mayor Eric Adams has to the detriment of the city's budget committed tens of millions of dollars to assist, aid and provide various types of support to Asylum seekers with the hope and expectation rightly or wrongly that the federal government would reimburse or offset those costs, which to date appears to be not likely or very little. Meanwhile, the city continues to scramble and suffer under the burden of ensuring healthy and safe conditions for those who have arrived and for those who have been here, while also maintaining the city for its current permanent residents. Additionally, changing rules and regulations at the federal and state levels has made it harder, not easier, for those seeking asylum to gain and afford that status. New York City has hired private lawyers to help process the many applications (according to the federal government, more than 2 million countrywide) for asylum they are receiving here. 

Make no mistake, it is the right thing to do, the just thing to do and we must do it. This isn’t a question of the need of the asylum seekers or if it’s the responsibility of the city of New York, the answer to that is a resounding yes. The questions are, why is it being seen as only our responsibility, and more broadly, only the responsibility of a few cities and good samaritans? Who are we as a country if we’ve forgotten that at least a portion of our country came here under the same circumstances, albeit many were better off, and had the added complication and benefit of race. Still, our nation has chosen to define it’s moral superiority by how it not only treats it’s citizens, but how we help those who are the most in need. By my estimations we fall woefully short in both areas. At current we aren’t fully paying this forward and to say it isn’t a good look is an understatement. San Francisco, D.C. and Austin, to name a few, are other cities who are facing the same types of ethical and existential questions. The irony is that there are protests in locales within New York City where those who are opposing the asylum seekers are coming from some of the same countries. What does it mean when effectively, brother is telling brother that they don’t belong? That is the reality that we are facing in this current crisis. 

In 2022 the U.S. estimated 700,000 asylum seekers have entered the U.S. and it doesn’t appear to be waning. While states like Florida are releasing legislation that’s resulting in many of their immigrant and migrant workers feeling under threat, not much appears to be happening or at least with urgency on the federal level. The reality has been both of those who are most vulnerable and those who are stepping up, at a dangerous disadvantage and in circumstances that can only generate more harm for all involved. It speaks to the lack that this nation has, a lack of empathy and care and accountability for its most vulnerable that shows in the state of affairs on how these individuals from Central and South America and Mexico are being treated and or forgotten. Give me your tired and your poor indeed.