Almost a third of the immigrants sent by the Texas government to New York are practically forced to take the buses, reported the commissioner of the City Hall Immigrant Affairs Office, Manuel Castro.
However, the New York City government receives them and seeks to help them reunite with their families in other states, said Castro, who has extensive experience working with immigrants, since he led the Empowerment organization for several years. of the Community of New Immigrants (NICE, for its acronym in English).
“Family reunification is important for us“, Castro told the Efe news agency on Monday, when a new group of immigrants sent from Texas.
The strategy of the Republican governor in Texas, Greg Abbott, is part of Operation Lone Star (Operation Lone Star), which includes arresting immigrants for trespassing pr ivada and increase vehicle registration, which has caused concern in several communities near the border.
According to figures from the mayor’s office, the city’s shelters now welcome 7 300 immigrants, who have arrived since April, although most arrived after 5 August, when the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, announced the sending of emigrants to Washington and New York.
Castro said that one of the immigrants who arrived today assured him that he had received threats of deportation if He didn’t get on that bus to New York.
“We have heard of other cases of people who do not want to get into trouble (that aggravate) their request for asylum” and they take the bus even if they don’t want to, he added.
The commissioner also indicated that just like last week these immigrants had bracelets on their wrists, but they took them off before getting off of the bus “and apparently there are various colors but it is not known what it is,” said Castro, who last week accused Abbott of treating the emigrants “like cattle.”
The recently arrived immigrants added 100 people, among them 35 children.
Castro pointed out that these people “are not undocumented” because they have their immigration documents to be in the United States, including being able to work, and have processed an asylum request.
Castro received the immigrants together with the president of the Hispanic Federation, l to the largest coalition of organizations serving this community, Frankie Miranda, who argued that this is a crisis created by the governor of Texas, who does not inform or coordinate the sending of buses “to give humane treatment” that these people deserve and he does it for political purposes.
Miranda also indicated that they hope that this week the mayor will meet with Castro and the NGOs that are providing assistance to immigrants on their own in order to create a coalition to coordinate the different types of help, including legal help, since many have appointments in immigration court.