New York City
declared a state of emergency after buses full of migrants continued to arrive
in the city from Republican states. Many of these migrants are from South America,
fleeing war and economic collapse. In New York, they have been provided shelter
in hotels around Staten Island, according to a New York Post report. But the
migrants say they have nothing, not enough clothes or food, and all they need
is some work.

Migrants are
sheltering at a property in Travis-Chelsea that includes Staten Island Inn,
Holiday Inn, and Fairfield Inn and Suits Marriott, the Post reported. One
worker at the Staten Island Inn told the Post that all rooms were booked, while
another worker at the Holiday Inn Express said they were awaiting another bus.

Also Read | Why has New York City declared an emergency

Geraldine
Selva, one such migrant, told New York Post that she’d arrived in New York a
week ago having been bussed from El Paso. “We do not have clothing and are not
eating well. We need a place to work,” the 31-year-old told the website, adding
that she was waiting for clothes, dressed in t-shirt and sweatpants on a night
when temperatures had dropped to near 4 degrees Celsius.

A sudden
influx of migrants into New York from other states has put a strain on the city’s
infrastructure. Residents too are wary. “What gets me is desperate people do
desperate things. That’s what worries me,” a New York resident told the Post.

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New York
Mayor Eric Adams too has sounded the alarm over the sudden influx of immigrants.
Declaring an emergency on Friday, the cop-turned-mayor signed an executive
order calling on taking a coordinated approach to deal with the influx. “This
is a humanitarian crisis that started with violence and instability in South America,
and it is being accelerated by American political dynamics,” Adams said.

He added that
most of the people coming into the city were adults who do not have the legal
right to work in the United States. There are many school-going age children
with them and some are in need of urgent medical attention.