We found Josué Martínez outside the Row Hotel shelter in Manhattan.
He assures that he does odd jobs, for which he receives cash payment due to the lack of a work permit and a social security number, for now he does not contribute taxes to the city and state.
“They will enable us to have a work permit so we can generate income for our families. They will also collaborate with the government, because we do not want to depend on a shelter,” says Martínez.
No, honestly not! What we want is to contribute to the government and move forward to help our family move forward,” continues this Venezuelan immigrant.
For this reason, the New York immigration coalition released this Thursday a study carried out by the immigration research initiative, which reveals the positive economic impact that immigrants have when paying taxes.
“For every thousand immigrants in the city. They, in their first two years, contributed 2.6 million dollars in taxes. So, if there are 100,000 new immigrants, they contribute $160 million to New York City and State, adds Anthony Capote, Policy and Statistical Analyst, Immigration Research initiative.
“As long as immigrants already have social security”… Oriana Shulevitz, from the organization Immigrant ARC, indicates that immigrants need continuous legal representation to follow up on their cases with the Immigration service.
Oriana Shulevitz Rosado, Legal Aid Strategist, Immigrant ARC
Right now in New York State there are more than half a million jobs that are unfilled and we are actually seeing a labor shortage.
It is important that we ensure that these immigrants who are arriving have access to immigration attorneys so that they can achieve economic independence, that they obtain their employment authorization so that they can contribute and help in the economy of New York.
“And the truth is that during the process you lose like the paperwork because you only have the assistance of a lawyer, only when you start the process,” adds Josué Martínez.
The rules for staying in shelters do not help immigrants get ahead either.
Liza Schwartzwald, director of Economic Justice, maintains:
“The restrictions of 30 days for singles and 60 for families, the only thing it does is destabilize them even more, it does not allow them to keep jobs, or keep their children in schools, in addition to inhumanly leaving them outdoors suffering from the harsh cold of New York.
