In Defense of Housing Asylum Seekers in Ozone Park
For centuries, New York City has been a beacon of freedom and opportunity. The promise of the American Dream has instilled hope in the minds of millions of people from across the globe, and the landing point for so many American immigrants has been New York. From the Ellis Island days to now, New York continues to reap the benefits of the tremendous economic growth that has come from mass migration. This is the story that many of us are familiar with.
Unfortunately, the aftermath of the 2016 elections have spurred a wave of xenophobia across the country, and far too many Americans have become openly hostile to the ideas that have solidified the United States as the greatest country in the world within the minds of so many. Everyone loves the IDEA of America, but those who claim to love it the most are often those who actively work against everything that has always made this country great to begin with. Immigrants have always contributed to this concept of greatness. Yet sadly, far right propaganda has infested even the most diverse, cosmopolitan places in the nation.
Queens, NY is one such place. In fact, it is one of the most diverse places in the entire world. Roughly 48% of residents are first generation immigrants, and the contributions made by NYC’s immigrant population are obvious boons to the economy and culture of the city. In spite of this, there are many who harbor unsavory attitudes surrounding New York’s sanctuary city status.
In 2022, there was an ongoing feud between New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has accused the mayor of being a hypocrite on immigration, and has been sending buses of migrants to New York City and other sanctuary cities. Mayoral Press Secretary Fabien Levy slammed Governor Abbott in a tweet stating “[Governor Abbott’s] continued use of human beings as political pawns is disgusting. NYC will continue to welcome asylum seekers w/ open arms, as we have always done, but we still need support from DC.” Approximately one year later, New York City officials are continuing to work on providing housing for incoming migrants. In recent news, there were plans to provide housing for over a thousand asylum seekers in Ozone Park, among other areas.
On July 17th at 6:10PM, District 32 Councilwoman Joann Ariola made a tweet stating that Aqueduct Racetrack was off the table as a location for a temporary migrant shelter. A number of community organizations have rallied to protest plans to house migrants, insinuating that there is “potential for gang activity, sexual predators, and criminal activity, as well as transportation issues and street crowding”. It is disheartening to see individuals and organizations who supposedly care about their communities coming out against the idea of providing support to these migrants — who are also about to be members of these communities.
Likening struggling people seeking a better life to violent criminals is an incredibly disturbing comparison. Numerous studies have shown that immigrants have lower rates of crime than natural-born citizens. In particular, undocumented immigrants have significantly lower rates of crime. According to arrest data from the Texas Department of Public Safety, “U.S.-born citizens are over 2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over 4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes [than undocumented immigrants].”
Despite claims of rising crime, New York City remains one of the safest places to live in the country. NYPD data analysis has shown that crime in NYC has been decreasing overall, and is much lower than it was in the past few decades. These claims are blatantly untrue, and we have the facts to prove it. Misguided attempts to oppose temporary shelters on the basis of safety are only going to delay the inevitable and exacerbate the issue. At the end of the day, these people still need a place to go until they are able to get on their feet.
This should not be a partisan issue — this is a humanitarian issue. We should not fan the flames of hate against these refugees. Instead, we should be coming up with ways to best accommodate them, and welcome our new neighbors. There is no place for racism or xenophobia in this country, and especially not in NYC.
It is rather ironic to be concerned with a mere 1,000 people in a city of 8 million and counting, as if 1,000 more is too many. The United States is far from overcrowded. New York City could certainly do a better job at upzoning and increasing development in order to accommodate growth, but to suggest that “there’s no more room” is beyond laughable. Those who seek to prevent growth in one of the biggest metropolises in the world are doing an incredible disservice to their communities.
“Not in my backyard” attitudes about migrant tents and homeless shelters have been prevalent in areas like Southern Queens. Ozone Park, for instance, is one of the lowest density neighborhoods in New York. Far too often, certain politicians and special interest groups seek to pass off problems to other areas, and not engage in their fair share of support to alleviate the city’s burdens. We need to ask ourselves, is this really in the best interest of New York City? Are these pro-people policies and attitudes?
Thankfully, most New Yorkers are in favor of pro-immigration policies and broadly speaking, policies that aim to improve welfare for all residents, irrespective of citizenship status. If certain New Yorkers are worried that migrants will further strain resources, it makes much more sense for them to advocate for better long-term public policy rather than oppose the creation of pop-up shelters. Is there a lack of permanent housing? Perhaps then they should advocate for building more housing. Will an increased population cause “transportation issues” and “street crowding”? Perhaps then they should advocate for increasing public transportation, especially when areas like Southern Queens are transit deserts. Hopefully, they will support rail restoration efforts such as QueensLink. Will these individuals and organizations cheer on development, or are these anti-migrant attitudes rooted in something uglier?
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If you liked this article, please also check out this article in Liberal Currents by Nick Felker: https://www.liberalcurrents.com/how-new-york-city-botched-the-migrant-crisis/
