[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 13, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H4272-H4273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
                    MIGRANT CRISIS IN NEW YORK CITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Espaillat) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with an urgent call as we 
face the inaction of this House to address our budgeting needs and to 
potentially throw us into disarray through a government shutdown. I 
rise with an urgent call of action to address the influx of migrants, 
asylum seekers in New York City.
  Since the spring of 2022, New York City has welcomed over 110,000 
migrants. It has opened 200 emergency shelters and has seen the influx 
of 20,000 children, 15,000 of which registered in the New York City 
Public School System last year, and the rest, 5,000, this year.
  This Friday, Mr. Speaker, I will be co-leading a New York delegation 
and other Members to visit New York City so they can see for themselves 
the challenges that are facing this city. The purpose of this trip is 
to show how New York City has addressed this crisis and the programs 
that they put in place to address the needs of these new arrivals.
  Many would like to say that this is unprecedented. Many would even 
resort to hateful language to say that this should not happen. The fact 
of the matter is that this has been around in America for a very long 
time. In fact, Mr. Speaker, in 1907, the busiest year ever for 
immigration in our country, Ellis Island saw 1.25 million immigrants 
processed.
  The busiest day was April 17 of that very same year, with a record of 
11,747 immigrants processed relatively quickly, Mr. Speaker. They also 
faced great challenges. They also faced discrimination. There was a 
literacy test enacted so they would not come in. The Chinese Exclusion 
Act was put forward so that Chinese immigrants would not come in. There 
were patters of hateful language and discrimination all over America 
during that year, and yet only 2 percent of them were rejected. On that 
island called Ellis Island, which some call the island of tears, only 2 
percent were sent back.
  Mr. Speaker, 1.2 million of them were let into New York City, and 
they rebuilt the city of New York. I propose to you that the immigrants 
that are coming to New York City will also rebuild this city, this 
great city of New York.
  After the COVID-19 pandemic, we need their energy. We need their 
hunger, their hunger to succeed. We need their innovativeness. That is 
exactly what America needs; not hateful language, not literacy acts, 
not complicated obstacles to prevent them from moving forward.
  Mr. Speaker, there are three basic solutions to this impasse. The 
first one is TPS for Venezuelans. They already have the temporary 
protective status. Let's just extend it until yesterday so they have 
the right to work; and everybody, including those across the aisle, 
understand that the work permit is the solution. Let them work so they 
are not a load on government. That is the first one.
  The second one is through the CBP One app, many of them have already 
applied as asylum seekers, but yet they have not applied for the work 
permit. Let's make sure they do that. The law allows that right now. A 
work permit is not statutory. It is regulatory.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, in a supplemental, we must do much better for

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places like New York City, which have shouldered the burden of this 
crisis, a crisis that is embedded in the best chapter of our history, a 
crisis that will take us to a much better place.

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