We ask ourselves: has the American dream died? The truth is that if you, my dear reader, walk the streets near the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, you would agree that it is so, seeing people sleeping on the sidewalks in the heart of the world’s capital.
That decline is impressive when you notice that there are young men who cannot even use a bathroom, for fear of losing their position, outside the shelter for asylum seekers that Mayor Eric Adams set up.
And that image doesn’t do Big Apple businesses any good.
Initially it was about providing them with a safe roof and guiding them through their process, but since there is not a bed for so many people, the space ran out and there are no resources to care for everyone, as other counties reject them, although they may be the labor force they say they do not find for local businesses.
According to the mayor’s office, there are more than 90,000 refugees sent from border states such as Texas or Arizona, where they allege that, since they are not sanctuaries for immigrants, they have no way to support them.
And we were hearing this week in some news outlets, where they were analyzing that perhaps the Joe Biden government is not accelerating work permits, as Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Adams are requesting, to send a message to those who are still thinking of crossing the jungle and Central America thinking that their American dream awaits them.
As the situation has already gotten out of control, there is nowhere to accommodate the almost 500 undocumented immigrants who arrive daily in New York, and that is why we see them lying on the street waiting to be attended so that they can explain to them that the future is not like they dreamed it and that they must continue on their way in a land that they do not know and do not understand the language either.
With these images, perhaps the federal government hopes to discourage the arrival of more people, who put pressure on the shelter system that no longer provides.
And Mayor Adams’ order to give singles only 60 days to stay in shelters seems right to us, enough time for them to figure out how to continue their fight and find a job, which is difficult without permission; plus a place to stay while you wait for your appointment with an immigration judge, who will then decide whether to grant you legal status as an asylee, which is another difficult road to travel.
As we can see, these conditions are as difficult for them as they are for the authorities and we hope that soon they will be able to say that the American dream is not dead, long live the American dream!
The author, Sofía Villa, writes this column in her personal capacity and her opinions do not represent Televisa-Univision where she works as Writer/Producer.
