Op-Ed | Meeting crisis with compassion: Helping migrants on the path to their American Dream

New York City is a city built by immigrants, and we are not just stronger because of our diversity — we are the greatest city on the globe because of it. Since 2022, we have faced an unprecedented influx of asylum seekers across the five boroughs as conditions worsened in countries abroad. Our administration met that influx head-on, offering newcomers food, clothing, and shelter. Thanks to our efforts, over 189,100 of the 232,600 of the migrants — or 81 percent — who requested services from the city in the last three years have taken the next steps in their journeys toward self-sufficiency. Because of the Adams administration’s work to address the international crisis and to support asylum seekers as they pursue their path towards the American Dream, 84 percent of eligible adult migrants have either received work authorization or applied for work authorization. The city also purchased more than 53,200 tickets to help asylum seekers reach their preferred destinations and reduce long-term costs for New York City taxpayers.

While we continue to care for those who arrive in our city, last week marked another milestone in demonstrating the immense progress of our unparalleled, international humanitarian effort.

We announced that The Roosevelt Hotel — which has served as both our Asylum Arrival Center and a Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center for nearly two years — will be closing in the coming months. Thanks to the successful strategies we implemented here in New York City, we are able to help even more asylum seekers take the next steps in their journeys, while simultaneously saving taxpayers millions of dollars.

The Roosevelt Hotel has been key in allowing us to effectively manage our operations, processing almost 75 percent of migrants who have entered our city asking for shelter over the last two years. Out of the more than 232,600 migrants who have come into the city’s care, over 173,000 registrations were completed at The Roosevelt Hotel between May 2023 and February 2025.

Since the first asylum seekers arrived in New York City in the spring of 2022, we have focused on helping them become self-sufficient. The New York City Department of Small Business Services has connected the migrant population to hundreds of job opportunities. And the administration’s case management and resettlement teams — in conjunction with teams across multiple city agencies — continue to find creative ways to assist recent arrivals, from direct outreach and resource fairs to onsite English as a Second Language courses at shelters.

During the height of the influx, the city received an average of 4,000 arrivals each week. Now, because of our administration’s skillful management, we are down to an average of just 350 new arrivals each week. With the closure of our operations at The Roosevelt Hotel, our intake functions and supportive services will now be integrated into other areas of the system.

Our actions have shown an entire nation what can be accomplished when we lead with compassion and resourcefulness. Because of the work we have done, we will emerge from this crisis stronger than ever before. We are all New Yorkers together: anything that affects one of us, affects us all. I have faith in our great city to continue to be a beacon of hope, and a place where people from every corner of the world can build a new life.