New York City saw Wednesday its largest number of migrant asylum seekers arrive at the Port Authority Bus Terminal since Texas Governor Greg Abbott began sending away the tired, huddled masses of people yearning to breathe free.
Arriving on bus after bus, hundreds of migrants stepped out of their transport and into the Big Apple. Hugging pillows and clutching clear bags filled with the little belongings they possessed, the men women, and young children were greeted by Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) Commissioner Manuel Castro and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine before heading inside the bus terminal to receive medical examinations and food.
While fleets of buses carrying those from the Texas border have been sporadically docking in at Port Authority for several weeks, Aug. 24 marked the first mass arrival in the ongoing crisis, with 250 migrants arriving on board five different charter buses.
“Many children, many families, again, we noticed that they were hungry, thirsty, and many of them had medical conditions. We actually had to transport a family with three children, one of which was very ill to a local hospital,” Commissioner Castro said standing outside Port Authority.
Castro, who accused Abbott of using immigrants as tokens in his reelection campaign, made a shocking allegation: Texas authorities had been allegedly tagging and barcoding individuals, scanning them like cattle as they board buses.
Castro also spoke about a 911 call several asylum seekers placed while in Tennessee believing they were being kidnapped.
“Many of the individuals coming here were misled. They were told they were going to be allowed to leave the buses but they were not. And as reported previously, the state of Texas has contracted a private security firm that is keeping individuals in these buses. Now, we have seen a number of buses drop-off individuals, we don’t know how common this practice is. Governor Abbott contracted these companies and forced them to sign a nondisclosure agreement that did not allow them to communicate and coordinate with us,” Castro said.
With this crisis seeming to be growing ever worse and now safety becoming a primary concern, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine called upon the federal government for aid.
“We need help from the federal government. We need the federal government to lead on this to coordinate the cities and states across the country. So, we can do this in a coordinated and strategic fashion. But in the meantime, New York is stepping up and I’m really proud of that,” Levine said.
With some demonizing the arrivals, Castro sought to remind the city that these new arrivals are human beings who have experienced suffering.
“They’re allowed to be here. In fact, they go through rigorous background checks before being admitted into the country. And so, as we’ve said before, New York City is willing to work with the federal government and other states to make sure that we are settling these asylum seekers as they arrive,” Castro said.
