About 250,000 Ukrainian refugees are trying to settle in the United States, 13% of them in New York. These data in an interview with Russian media were given by the mayor of the city, Eric Adams.
According to him, now in the state of New York there is a big problem with the resettlement of migrants, to solve which the city authorities, among others, plan to use offices as housing.
“Ukraine plays an important role for us. As of May 9, 2023, there were 245,000 applicants in America who had applied for permanent residence in the United States and who had individual sponsors. All of these people fled Ukraine and have now arrived in the United States,” he added.
Of these, according to the mayor, more than 32,000 people “are in New York, which is far more than in any other state in the United States.” These people, he added, often settle in the Brooklyn area, which New Yorkers themselves call “the key to America.”
On April 21, 2022, US President Joe Biden announced the launch of a program for refugees from Ukraine – Unite for Ukraine (“Unite for Ukraine”). With the help of it, refugees themselves and their close relatives who are outside the United States can come to America and legally reside in its territory for two years.
Refugees can enter the country if they have a sponsor, which is someone living in the United States who is willing to provide housing and financial assistance. At the end of April 2023, according to the publication, she took advantage approximately 130,000 Ukrainian citizens.
“Already now, there are many Ukrainian refugees in New York who actively participate in the city’s economy.<…>New York already has a rich Ukrainian community, and we will continue to help it grow and expand. Our administration has allocated a significant sum to some local agencies and organizations so that they can help Ukrainian refugees to truly integrate into local society,” Adams added.
As echoes of the conflict in Ukraine resonate in New York, the city administration prides itself on having “both Ukrainian and Russian-speaking residents,” Adams said. “We are proud that in our city there are both Ukrainians and Russian-speaking residents – those who came from Russia and those who came from the countries of the former Soviet bloc,” he said.
The Mayor of New York also said that in January 2022, when he officially took office, the number of illegal migrants was 45,000. Since then, this figure has increased by another 70,000 people. There are several ways to solve this problem “on a national scale,” one of which is support from the federal government, Adams said. However, he noted, this requires help from the Republican Party, which so far “hampers real immigration reform.”
” We <..> we need the White House to properly fund this initiative. The US Federal Emergency Management Agency has so far given New York a depressing amount of money. We have the vast majority of migrants and asylum seekers coming to our city, and we need to get the resources we need to address this,” Mayor Adams explained.
While New York awaits the release of funds, the city has “already taken several initiatives in the judicial field” to clarify the real obligations of the metropolis in the migratory context. Another solution, Adams added, could be the conversion of offices into housing, which will be carried out with the support of the capital of New York State – Albany. For these purposes, the city authorities expect to “convert almost 90 million square meters of empty real estate”.
“Many people are still working from home after the pandemic and these vacant office spaces could be used to address the affordable housing crisis in our city,” Adams explained. He added that it is vital for New York to work with migrants who have historically contributed to the city’s development. According to him, the problem in this case “is not in the migrants, but in the way everything is done”, and the authorities must be able to distribute them throughout the territory.
“There are 108,000 cities, towns and villages in America. We must use all of these 108,000 settlements so that each of them contributes to the resolution of this humanitarian crisis. But for now, this is not happening. Therefore, we don’t blame those who come to us looking for the “American Dream”. We blame those who do not provide the proper conditions and processes to provide these people with the same opportunities that other immigrants had when they came to our country,” the mayor of New York concluded.
Early 2023, Kommersant, citing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) underline that the number of refugees from Ukraine to European countries since the outbreak of hostilities in February 2022 has exceeded 7.9 million people. As of June 6, this figure decreases up to 5.9 million people, nearly 350,000 more Ukrainians are outside Europe.
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