Migrants sleep outside as New York mayor says city is full

  • last year

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Transcript
00:00 Many have travelled for weeks to be here.
00:02 New arrivals wait day and night outside New York City's Roosevelt Hotel
00:07 in the hope they'll be given shelter.
00:09 "We've crossed a lot of countries to get here. We've suffered.
00:15 If we've come here, it's because we trust this country."
00:20 The Roosevelt now serves as the welcoming and processing centre for migrants arriving by bus.
00:26 But many have been waiting several days just to be able to register.
00:30 "We are seeing 2,300 people a week still coming into New York City
00:36 seeking shelter. That is unsustainable."
00:38 City officials say the number of migrants arriving since last spring from the border
00:43 is close to 100,000.
00:44 And unlike other American cities, New York City is legally required to give anyone shelter who
00:50 asks for it - a promise they can no longer fulfil.
00:54 The mayor recently announced indefinite shelter would no longer be granted to single men,
00:58 who must now vacate their beds and reapply after 60 days.
01:01 "We need help. We need help. And it's not going to get any better.
01:07 From this moment on, it's downhill. There is no more room."
01:14 Critics argue New York City is pursuing a political campaign to put pressure on state
01:18 and federal officials to cough up more money.
01:22 Meanwhile, the city is doing what it can to at least provide the migrants with food,
01:26 water and air-conditioned buses in which to cool off.
01:28 By next year, it expects to have spent more than $4 billion on welcoming migrants.

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