A gigantic tent camp for refugees opens here - in the middle of New York
The politics of revenge: Busing migrants to Kamala Harris' house
Of:
Emelie Svensson
Published: Less than 20 min ago
NEWS
NEW YORK. A refugee camp is being built here - in the middle of New York.
The crisis camp is an emergency solution for the tens of thousands of migrants who are now bussed to the metropolis by Republican governors, like pawns in a political war.
- The tent city is completely unacceptable, says Zohran Mamdani, 31.
Randall's island is a small strip of land, in the middle of the East river, and belongs to Manhattan.
On the other side of the water, the Empire State Building looms.
Now the island is turning into a refugee camp.
Five hundred tent beds are spread out in long rows.
The Brits are so close that you can stretch out your arm and touch the person next to you. The sheets are in neat piles on top.
The tent next door is a dining room, where ketchup and mustard have already been placed on the tables.
The next tent is the leisure corner, with sofas, ping-pong tables, televisions, Xbox and wifi. Outside there are washing machines, simple trolleys with showers and toilets.
Military marching on the fenced area. One hundred soldiers are ready to help run the center. And volunteers, who are also supposed to help, are given a final briefing, before hundreds of migrants arrive in the tent beds.
Three huge tents have been fenced off with picket fences and guards.
- We haven't seen anything like this in a century, says Manuel Castro, about the latest wave of migrants as he shows around the tent city.
- That's why New York is now doing everything we can to take care of those who come, continues Castro, who works for the mayor on migration issues.
Interior. Photo: Emelie Svenson
The tent camp in New York. Photo: Emelie Svenson
– Därför gör New York nu allt vi kan för att ta hand om de som kommer, fortsätter Castro, som arbetar för borgmästaren med migrationsfrågor.
Sending them as revenge
The migrants have become ammunition in a political war between red and blue states in recent months. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott has since last spring sent an arsenal of busloads of thousands of migrants.
He sends them as revenge - and to score political points - on a two-day bus ride across the country, to Democrat-controlled cities.
Abbott believes liberal leaders are hypocrites, as cities beat their chests for welcoming immigrants, while states along the southern border bear a heavy economic burden as the majority of asylum seekers make their way to Texas via Mexico.
The Texas leader addressed the New York mayor directly when he wrote about the refugee fight in the New York Post:
“Mayor Adams likes to pat himself on the back for welcoming migrants with open arms to his sanctuary. Until he actually has to live up to his promises", and:
"What Adams has to deal with is a trifle compared to what border towns struggle with on a daily basis."
The buses show up daily at New York's Port Authority bus station, with no advance notice and no coordination from Texas about how many are arriving and when. Volunteers struggle to care for those who come. Sometimes families with babies. Usually with nothing more than the clothes they have on their bodies.
The same thing happens in Washington DC, where the busloads are occasionally demonstratively parked outside Vice President Kamala Harris' house. Florida Governor Ron Desantis has also sent planes of migrants to exclusive Martha's Vineyard, where former President Barack Obama has a summer residence. Desantis, too, plans to continue sending migrants to Democrat-led cities.
In an initial location, 500 people will live here, but this can be expanded to 1,000 people if necessary. Photo: Emelie Svenson
Republican states on the southern border bus or even fly migrants to blue northern states. Photo: Emelie Svenson
State of emergency declared
State of emergency declared
Over 19,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York in the past few months alone, overwhelming the city's shelters and hotels used as temporary refugee housing.
Many of the new arrivals come mainly from countries in South America, most recently from Venezuela.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has declared a state of emergency due to the wave of refugees. He argues that the city has come together to help the migrants, but that many are stuck in a worsening crisis deliberately created by Republican politicians. He believes the city needs more help from the Biden administration.
- This is unsustainable, Adams said when he recently announced the state of emergency.
- The city will run out of funding for other priorities.
Due to the state of emergency, the tent camp on Randall's Island has been able to be built in a short time.
First, a tent camp was erected on a beach in the Bronx, where residents demonstrated to stop construction. Construction in the Bronx was flooded and had to be moved to the Manhattan area.
Strong criticism: "Unacceptable"
The tents have received massive criticism from activists and local politicians, who call the camp "inhumane". Especially when cooler weather is expected shortly.
Zohran Mamdani, 31, a social democratic politician in the New York state assembly, is furious that the mayor built the refugee camp.
- This tent city is completely unacceptable. They are no different than the migrant tent cities we scold Texas and Arizona for. In one of the world's richest cities, there are no excuses for this. The tent cities are also built by the same supplier that is building Trump's border wall, says Mamdani to Aftonbladet.
Mayor Eric Adams has responded to criticism from disgruntled local politicians by stating that they should come up with their own constructive ideas.
New York is unique in the United States in that the city is obligated to provide shelter to anyone who needs it. And with the new migrant wave, the challenge has reached a new level.
According to critics, a tent cloth is not an approved roof.
The mayor believes that the wave of migrants in New York has developed into an emergency. Shouldn't all possible solutions be explored in that case?
- Yes. But the answer is not to declare a state of emergency in order to build a tent city outdoors. Ensure that there is housing at reasonable prices, and start programs so that the undocumented can apply for housing, says local politician Mamdani.
- In addition, there are dozens of large indoor venues in New York, such as the Javits Center (a large exhibition hall), which can be easily converted to offer clean beds, privacy and shelter.
The Manhattan skyline is seen from the island. Photo: Emelie Svenson
The beds are so close that you can stretch out your arm and touch the neighbor's bed. Photo: Emelie Svenson
"Short-term solution"
In front of the grid of tent beds is Zach Iscol, director of New York's crisis management.
He says families with children arriving at the New York bus terminal, from the southern border, will be directed to nearby hotels. On the other hand, men coming alone will be directed here to the tent camp from now on.
- It is a short-term solution for the people who need to figure out what their next destination is, he says.
The city management's goal is for the migrants to stay in the tents for a maximum of four days, but no one will be kicked out. And there is no strict limit.
In the first place they open for 500 men, but the tent camp can increase the capacity to a thousand people.
There may also be more tent camps, if the first one is successful. In total, the tent city has cost the equivalent of 3.7 million Swedish kronor to construct. The tents will be guarded by security guards around the clock. Residents are allowed to come and go as they please during the day, but have a curfew after 10 p.m.
To the criticism that the tents are inhumane, Iscol replies that the floors will be heated to 21 degrees Celsius during the winter, and that they have heating coils so that snow melts on the roofs.
It is unclear how long the tents, which overlook the Manhattan skyline, will remain.
- We cannot predict the future, it depends on whether the bus loads continue to arrive at the same rate. But the tents will remain here as long as they are needed.
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