The Real (Migrant) Crisis is in the Details

Last night we joined a small group of mothers who wanted to understand what was happening at the Roosevelt Hotel, and it was shocking...

While you may have seen images of men sleeping on the sidewalks in front, or of the dozens of mopeds lined up on the road to the side, it’s only a small window into a long list of questions regarding what our tax dollars are funding there. Our visit raised a lot of questions for us that we plan to pursue. And if you have additional ones, please let us know as well.

But first, stepping back, some context:

How is the Roosevelt Hotel Being Used?

The Roosevelt Hotel has been deemed a comprehensive ‘intake center’ where new arrivals seeking asylum are processed and then provided more permanent housing. With the sheer numbers arriving (more than 100,000 already this year) and the busy midtown location, which has been secured by the city for the next three years, it’s reasonable for taxpayers to ask for more detail on the long-term plans for the location.

But even with the information publicly available, our observations highlighted concerns and inconsistencies that are worth exploring.

Who is Coming?

According to the mayor and governor, there are now more than 100,000 in New York City seeking asylum. Those numbers mostly line up with the figures found on the Customs & Border Control website. What isn’t being talked about as much is the fact that the vast majority of those arriving are single men, and that they will most likely not qualify for asylum. The process once asylum is denied is deportation too.

So why are we spending billions on individuals who will never be approved for asylum? How is this affecting those will be likely to qualify but are forced to wait longer? Who is accountable for this type of misjudgment by the government?

Nature of the Facilities

The Roosevelt Hotel is being run by NYC Health + Hospitals. In a note to the Board of Directors in July they describe the facility:

“The city’s Arrival Center at the Roosevelt Hotel — which NYC Health + Hospitals launched in early May to provide a centralized location to efficiently process new arrivals — now welcomes about 400 people through its doors each day. The streamlined services available at the center readily connect asylum seekers to intake, medical, legal, and reconnection services, as well as placement, if needed, in a shelter or humanitarian center.”

A security guard did, in fact, tell us that there was a ‘state-of-the-art hospital’ on the second floor of the hotel taking care of primarily the children and pregnant woman.

While the city maintains that only women and children are actually staying at the location, with an 8:1 ration of men arriving to the city right now, it’s clear that they are residing there as well.

Security

To enter the building, residents and staff access via two entrances. There was a considerable amount of chaos at the front entrance, which was manned by two young guards from private security firm Mulligan Security. To enter you need to be wearing a lanyard (but at the time we visited it appeared difficult for the two guards to review every lanyard closely). At the back entrance were 3-4 National Guardsman. We asked the Guardsmen if those entering the facility are checked for weapons, if there are metal detectors, and/or if rooms are checked periodically for weapons. In all cases, the answer was ‘no.’

Mopeds

There are dozens of mopeds outside of the hotel. It’s hard not to wonder how new arrivals can afford these bikes and/or who is paying for them? We watched residents riding on the sidewalks and weaving around the kids who were out playing on the sidewalk.

Drugs Everywhere

Not only was there copious amounts of marijuana being consumed on the sidewalk around where the kids were playing, but also by those then getting on the mopeds and driving off.

Even more disconcerting were the men lurking around the outer corner of the building who tried to sell us drugs. It did not appear that those calling to us were residents of the facility (no lanyards and older) but that makes it even more worrisome regarding those who may be preying upon these new arrivals.

We Deserve Answers

Taxpayers deserve to better understand how this crisis is being funded and managed, as well as, an expectation of its future scale and tenure. With respects to the hotel itself, a contract was signed a couple of months ago with the Pakistan Government, who owns the facility. The contract guarantees PKI (Pakistan Airlines) $200 per room per night over three years for the 1,000+ room hotel. The deal is valued at $220 million.

And, of course, this is just one location. As the mayor recently allocated soccer fields, parks, and other space intended for children to house migrants (primarily men) the total price-tag is expected to be close to $12 billion.

Additionally, as this letter to the Board of Directors of New York Health + Hospitals shows, there are an eye-watering number of housing contracts being doled out monthly with more currently in the RFP stage. And, again, primarily for single male asylum seekers.

Unfair to Everyone

It’s important to note that the estimated $12 billion to be spent on this crisis is for a group that will be overwhelmingly denied asylum— but after a prolonged period of time because of the backlog (this overview from the Council on Foreign Relations offers a clear and succinct overview). The result, of course, is money cut from services for New Yorkers and put into a crisis that will not only create an even deeper deficit.

But, they aren’t statistics, are they? They are human beings. And the use of a luxury Madison Ave hotel can only be considered crass when talking about people leaving poor countries. And in a world connected by social media and digital tools, we can see how cruel the approach has been. For the term “Roosevelt Hotel” there are more searches in Guatemala than the US.

Frankly, if this were about a commitment to asylum seekers, the US would do more to help the more than 43 million children alone who have been forced to leave their country because of the dire consequences and immediate risk to their safety. The UN is asking countries to take in these vulnerable people, and the US is falling woefully short of their commitment. We must do more.