New York is a city of immigrants – but its mayor says migration crisis may ‘destroy’ it
If it wasn’t for the soldiers on the door, you’d walk on by, oblivious to the people behind the window.
Just off Manhattan’s Madison Avenue, between the midtown skyscrapers, a shuttered bar is now the impromptu overflow for New York’s central migrant registration centre. And through the steamed-up windows is a room full of stories.
Each person has a long journey behind them, from Africa, the Middle East and South America to the southern border of the United States and now here.
Some flee persecution, some escape war. Some have had lives upturned by climate change. All need work. All seek a better life.
“It wasn’t going well for us in Venezuela,” mother of two Danieles tells me.
“Most of all it was for the two of them.” She points to her toddlers.
Migrants waiting in a shuttered bar
Nearby, Omar, damp and with no belongings and no bed for the night, says: “We’re finding a way to get a future, a good economy to try to help us and our families back in Venezuela to be able to live.”
Fear and hope; the push and pull of humanity. They are familiar stories that I’ve heard over and over on the migration trail, from Lebanon to Turkey, from Greece to France, from Texas to New York.
The Big Apple is, proudly, a city of immigrants. Nearly 40% of people here were born in another country. And its Statue of Liberty is a symbol of a nation built on immigration.
Yet now New York is the test for a nation divided by migration.
It’s not entirely clear why Britain’s home secretary has chosen America to raise, some say grandstand, her proposals to tackle global migration.
If Suella Braverman thinks America is a migration showcase, she will be bitterly disappointed.
If she wants to use it as an example of a failing system then it’s an awkward message diplomatically, and she’ll find a government here that would rather not talk about it.
Just as in Britain and Europe, migration is a bitterly divisive issue here.
America’s southern border is a perfect example of an asylum system that is neither firm nor fair. On that, she will find common ground with Britain’s own system.
New York is a snapshot of a nationwide challenge. More than 100,000 people have arrived on Manhattan Island over the past year.
The city authorities recently signed a $275m contract with the Hotel Association of New York to set aside 5,000 rooms for migrants. Yet more than that arrive most weeks.
Read more:
Where do US migrants come from and how do they get there?
Migrant surge at border pushes Texas city to ‘breaking point’
There are currently more than 60,000 people housed in 200 different sites across the city.
Most arrive via the southern border with Mexico after a journey through Central America. In August, 82,000 people entered Panama overland from South America.
The numbers for this year are looking set to be double the number in 2022.
As they pass into America to claim asylum they immediately become pawns in the politics, most pushed north to be someone else’s problem. And if that sounds familiar it’s because it’s what’s happening in Europe too, from Italy, to France, to the UK.
For a sense of America’s broken system, consider this: more than two million immigration cases are pending nationwide. That is up from about 100,000 a decade ago and the average time to determine a case is now four years.
US soldiers watch over a group of migrants waiting near El Paso, Texas
This month the city’s mayor issued a stark assessment of the challenge as he sees it.
“We’re getting no support on this national crisis. We’re receiving no support,” Eric Adams said.
“And let me tell you something New Yorkers: never in my life, have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this. I don’t see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City, destroy New York City.”
Mr Adams is a Democrat, the party of President Biden with whom he is now clashing over the issue of migration.
Mr Adams blames the president. Mr Biden, on the occasions that he acknowledges the issue, blames it on a system he can’t change without bipartisan agreement, which he will never get.
And that’s the nub of it. Whether it’s in the villages of Kent, the islands of Greece, the towns of Texas or the streets of Manhattan there is no common ground on migration. Politicians represent divided societies. It’s “we can do it” up against “we really can’t”.
Between the hard line and the compassion is a reality. This is a time of unprecedented migration. The movement we are seeing represents a new normal that is testing open societies globally.
This is the most significant statement from the US president in days, though it still keeps everyone guessing.
In a message conveyed through his press secretary, he is giving diplomacy up to two weeks to work.
“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Karoline Leavitt quoted him as saying.
It is not clear what “whether or not to go” entails.
Israel-Iran conflict: Latest updates
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Trump: Iran ‘weeks away’ from nuclear weapon
We know that he has been given a spectrum of different military options by his generals and we know that the Israelis are pressuring him to use American B2 bombers with their bunker-busting bombs to destroy Iran’s nuclear facility at Fodow.
The Israelis are encouraging no delay. But against that, he is weighing up many risks, both military and political.
Militarily, it is not clear how successful a bunker-busting strike on Fordow would be.
Experts have suggested it would require several of the massive bombs, which have never been used in combat before, to be dropped on the site.
It is not as simple as one clean strike and job done.
Politically, the president is under significant pressure domestically not to get involved in Iran.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
MAGA civil war breaks out over Iran
Within his own MAGA coalition – influencers, politicians and media personalities are lining up in criticism of involvement in the conflict.
One of those leading the criticism, his former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who maintains huge influence, was seen entering the White House on Thursday.
His press secretary reiterated to us that the president always wants to give diplomacy a chance and she confirmed that his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has spoken to the Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
Steve Bannon, seen recently at a conservative event in Maryland, is against US involvement in Iran. Pic: AP
European leaders, including the UK foreign secretary David Lammy, who is in Washington, are meeting Mr Araghchi in Geneva on Friday.
The two-week window – assuming it lasts that long – also gives space to better prepare for any strike and mitigate against some of the other risks of US involvement.
Read more from Sky News:
Is Trump losing his MAGA support?
Gantz defends conflict with Iran
‘Love Trump’ says Israeli minister
There are 40,000 troops in bases across the Middle East. It takes time to increase security at these bases or to move non-essential personnel out. It also takes time to move strategic military assets into the region.
The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and its support vessels were redeployed from the Indo-Pacific on Monday. Their last known position was the Strait of Malacca two days ago.
The Nimitz Carrier Group will overlap with the USS Carl Vinson group which was deployed to the Middle East in March.
The potential two-week window also allows for more time for a ‘day after’ plan, given that the Israeli strategy appears to be regime change from within.
Since the Israeli action in Iran began last week, the worst-case scenario of mass casualties in Israel from Iranian attacks has not materialised.
The president is said to be surprised and encouraged by this. “Israel has exceeded a lot of people’s expectations in their abilities,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
The Israeli success, the absence of a mass casualty event in Israel, and the lack of any sustained counterattack by Iranian proxies in the region remove reservations that previous presidents have had about taking on Iran.
That said, sources have told Sky News that the president is determined that the diplomatic solution should be given a chance despite current pessimism over the chances of success.
A critical two weeks ahead.
A SpaceX rocket has exploded before launch – sending a dramatic fireball high into the sky.
Starship 36 was preparing for its 10th test flight at Starbase – SpaceX’s launch site at the southern tip of Texas – when the incident occurred on Wednesday evening.
During take off procedures just after 11pm local time, the rocket exploded into a giant fireball.
The company described the incident as a “major anomaly”.
Starship 36 was preparing for its 10th test flight. Pic: NASASpaceFlight
The test flight failed at Starbase – SpaceX’s launch site. Pic: NASASpaceFlight
In a statement, it added: “A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for.
“Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials.
“There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue.”
Read more from Sky News:
Trump: I ‘may or may not’ strike Iran
Elon Musk posts ‘drug test results’
It marks the latest failure for the space flight company, which hopes that Starship will one day be used to ferry people and cargo to Mars.
Last month, a Starship test flight began spinning out of control about 30 minutes after its launch because of fuel leaks – meaning it broke up on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
May: SpaceX rocket spins out of control
That followed explosive past failures in January, where a rocket blew up about eight minutes after take-off, and March, which forced flights in Florida to be temporarily grounded.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in May that despite the rocket failure, the test flight was a “big improvement”.
A day later, he said he wants to send a spacecraft crewed by humanoid robots on a voyage to Mars by the end of 2026.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike