Migrants arriving in New York City’s Port Authority bus terminal have been met by the National Guard, city officials, nonprofit volunteers — even Mayor Eric Adams himself — where they’re given food, clothing, transportation and connections to housing.
But the hundreds who arrive each day at one of the city’s two major airports receive no such formal assistance. Many, who have no money or knowledge of where to go, have wound up reaching out to strangers they learned about through word of mouth.
“Migrants have our numbers,” said Power Malu, who runs the group Artists Athletes Activists. “They know we are the go-to people. They are constantly sharing our number.”
Throughout the crisis, volunteers like Malu have stepped in to help the city, plugging holes in the city’s support network. Now his group — which has a shoestring annual budget of $150,000 — is running out of money. He said he has repeatedly asked city officials for help.
“The city has access to vans, buses and they are not offering any of that,” he said. “If you’re not going to offer, at least reimburse us.”
His plea comes as city officials are expecting an increase in migrants following the expiration of Title 42, a pandemic-era immigration policy that had enabled the swift expulsion of certain migrants.
Malu said that they are spending around $30,000 a month to arrange for Uber vehicles to take stranded migrants to their destinations, which are often city-run shelters or intake centers. Most of that money has come from donations. They say they’ve also dipped into their personal funds.
For advocates and volunteers, the lack of any resources or plan at the airports has been vexing. Although most of the attention is focused on the Port Authority bus terminal, migrants have been streaming through a variety of transit hubs.
“[City officials] say the determination was not to take this on,” said Joshua Goldfein, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society who has raised the issue…
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