“I came to New York dreaming of a better future”.
This is what he says smiling Beruska*, of 19 years, sitting next to a bag full of donations of food and hygiene products in a room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York.
This is one of the most famous museums on the planet and where the Met Gala charity event is held annually, which brings together world celebrities in extravagant dresses.
Beruska, on the other hand , is Venezuelan and is 9 months pregnant. Two years ago he left Ecuador walking towards the United States.
Beruska has 18 years old and is 9 months pregnant. He arrived in New York in search of a better future.
He spent seven days on the way in the jungle, he was robbed in Mexico, he crossed the Rio Grande and arrived in the US at the beginning of November, with nothing.
“One seems to be going to die there. I started to have pain in my stomach from crying so much”, he told BBC Mundo in the warm room of the museum while the temperature outside was close to 0 degrees Celsius.
Now he sleeps in one of the hotels – some up to four stars- designated by the mayor of New York to accommodate the more than 12. migrants who arrived in the city since last April: many are Venezuelans fleeing the crisis economy in your country; others are fleeing insecurity in Central America.
In October, New York Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency when shelters they began to fill up due to the large number of migrants who, mostly after crossing the border in Texas or Arizona, arrive on buses to New York.
These buses are paid for by charitable organizations and, now, Above all, by Republican state governments who want to carry out a political coup by transferring the immigration challenge to Democratic territories such as New York.
The city even installed a large giant tent on Randalls Island for almost a month in order to expand the accommodation offer.
“Humanitarian Crisis”
New York City is facing “a crisis s unprecedented humanitarian action,” said a statement from the mayor’s office in the past 18 November by extending the status of emergency.
“If asylum seekers continue to enter at the current rate, the total population within the shelter system will exceed 70. people next year”, he warned.
This is a figure never recorded in the city’s shelters, local authorities say.
Historically, New York City has always been a beacon for migrants . And this is how its emblematic symbol shows it: the Statue of Liberty.
In the 19th century, the statue welcomed thousands of migrants from various continents who sought their new home in the American city.
But this new wave of migrants crossing the southern border of the United States is testing its reputation for “sanctuary city“: local authorities refuse to enforce the harsh immigration policies of the federal government.
And it is that by law, New York must give refuge to anyone who request it.
“We are not telling anyone that New York can accommodate all the migrants in the city. We are not encouraging people to send eight, nine buses a day. We are saying that as a sanctuary and hometown, we are going to meet our obligation,” Mayor Adams said in September.
More than two million migrants were detained at the border between the United States and Mexico in the last year, a record number that worries the Joe Biden government politically.
The majority of those who attempt to cross the border on foot are Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Cubans, according to data from the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
More of 77. Venezuelans managed to enter to United States territory through the border with Mexico during te last fiscal year, an increase of 293% compared to the previous year.
That is why that in mid-October, the Joe Biden government decreed that “Venezuelan persons who enter the United States without authorization through areas located between the ports of entry will be returned to Mexico ” .
CBP says that since this measure was applied there has been a significant drop in 24% of September (24.613) to October (18.035) of Venezuelans trying to cross.
The government also created a system for l to arrive legally 22. Venezuelans, emulating the one created to receive Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.
Authorities generally process migrants at the border, release them, and allow them to move through the US while they await asylum court proceedings, which in some cases can take years.
Beruska is one of the migrants who managed to cross through Texas and arrived in New York.
“I’m fine at the hotel. I have food and a place to sleep”, she detailed gratefully, while taking a cake for Thanksgiving Day donated to the more than 100 migrants who attended the “Community Day” event at the MET.
But he knows that the help he receives today will not be eternal.
She says that she had a medical appointment at a hospital for her pregnancy when she arrived in New York. There she was informed that she should approach again when she feels pain. However, she does not know what the next steps are regarding her medical coverage, one of the great challenges for newcomers to the country.
Despite her optimism and the fact that her husband has just found a job at a fast food chain, Beruska is puzzled if that income will be enough to care for and support her little girl in a city with many obstacles for undocumented migrants to get a job, health insurance and a roof over their heads.
With nothing
“One question: did you bring men’s clothing?”, asks a young man during a cold night in Manhattan in mid-November.
The order goes addressed to Yajaira “Yaya” Saavedra, who arrived shortly before with two cars loaded with boxes and bags at the corner of the The Row hotel, one of the accommodations occupied by migrants in the Hell’s Kitchen area of New York.
Members of La Morada restaurant bring donations to migrants on a cold November night in Manhattan.The woman, of 24 years old, owns “La Morada”, a family-owned Mexican restaurant in the Bronx.
But he says half of his operations are now dedicated to distributing donations .
“Since April we have been helping people who come to New York. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we go out to distribute. We receive donations, but most of us buy them”, he describes to BBC Mundo.
She, along with a group of collaborators, distributes food and especially clothing in hotels and shelters where migrants are housed, because most of them arrive wearing what they are wearing.
“This is one of the cities richest in the world. If I help with the few pesos I have, I think the government can do more. The city must provide housing for people. This is inhumane”, he qualifies despite the help provided by the city.
“This country cannot exist without migrants”, he assures “ Yaya”, who came to the United States by walking across the border three decades ago.
A group of collaborators from La Morada restaurant brings donations twice a week to migrants in New York .
On the same corner, on 8th avenue and street 36, appears Sara from years with a baby of just over 1 year old.
She left Venezuela walking with her partner.
“I came because I want to give my daughter a better future. I am also looking for a future for myself, I want to study “, she tells while she receives some clothes for her little girl.
” Thank God I am in New York. Here I will be able to achieve my goal”, she says hopefully.
She explains that she was in Texas for a few days, but she knew that in the Great Apple would receive more help.
Sara has years old and arrived in New York with her partner and baby of just over a year.
Osiris Pulgar, of 
thinks in the same way years old, looking for some hot food.
“I came to New York because I know that here they prioritize help more than in other states“, he affirms after spending time with his 4-year-old daughter and her partner in Texas, where they did not feel welcome.
“I’m looking for a job doing anything, cleaning, whatever. I do not get. I need the papers and learn English. But I don’t give up. I want to give my daughter what I couldn’t have”, he assures.
Osiris is also Venezuelan and says that in New York they prioritize aid to migrants than in other places in the US
The papers Osiris refers to is the request for asylum in the US. Upon approval, it would guarantee him a work permit.
“I have hope and faith that things They are going to improve here,” he says. I would not hesitate to move to another state if I get a job.
“The American dream does not exist”
At least a dozen migrants in New York with whom BBC Mundo spoke optimistically repeat that they are looking for a better future that their countries can offer. And they intend to achieve their goals by working. They also reiterate that finding a job is not easy.
“We are going to get ahead by working”, says Lorena, a Colombian from
confidently years that she arrived in New York with her daughter Loraine, from years old and that she is Venezuelan.
Lorena arrived in New York with her daughter Loraine through the jungle and Central America.
His youngest daughter stayed in Venezuela with her grandmother because she had no money to take the whole family. Pray to be able to bring her soon.
“Let’s see how we do with the papers. We have an appointment [in migrations ] for him 2022″, He says.
Karen and her daughter Eliexy arrived in New York from Venezuela three months ago.Karen Barrolleta of 36 years, tells that they arrived from Venezuela about three months ago and lives with her husband and daughter, Eliexy Ramos, from years, in one of the hotels assigned to migrants near Times Square, in Manhattan.
“Many people come here looking for the American dream, but the american dream does not exist. It is not like that that they will receive you with a house or a car. If you don’t work, no one is going to put it in your hands. Everything in life that is worthwhile costs and is achieved by working“, he emphasizes.
Resist in the most expensive city in the US
New York is the most expensive city in the United States. 8.5 million people live here; in Manhattan alone there are about 1.7 million.
The cost of living index is a 250,8% higher than the national average, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research (Council for Economic and Community Research).
Everything is expensive in the city, from groceries to public transport and housing. The average per capita income is almost US$70..
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the city was 5.9% in October 2024, 0.3% more than in September and a decrease of 2% compared to October last year. The national unemployment rate is close to 3.7%.
The Wolcott Hotel in Midtown, Manhattan, houses several of the migrants who arrived in the last few months to New York.
Find employment for the migrants is not an easy task. And it is much more complicated without papers or training.
For example, in the sector construction workers in New York, workers need two courses that cost between US$100 and US$250.
“We offer free courses. They are not a work permit, but it is a preparation so that they can enter that construction network”, explains to BBC Mundo Yesenia Mata , Executive Director of “La Colmena”, an organization that assists and represents the community and migrant workers in Staten Island, New York.
“The mission is to ensure that migrant workers through education can fend for themselves at work “, details.
Since last April, Mata says that the flow of migrants has increased significantly. And that the Venezuelan accent predominates in the queries they receive every morning at the organization’s headquarters.
“We have a waiting list of 250 people for the courses“, adds.
“The need of the migrant worker who has been here for a while is very different from the the need of the person who has just arrived”, points out Mata, who describes that the organization introduced courses for migrants who arrived in recent months , to help them insert themselves into the New York Society.
“Many are angry with the migrant saying that he is not strong. But a person who has gone through so much to get here is very strong, resilient. Migrants need an opportunity to improve themselves ”, he claims.
Meanwhile, in the MET room, Beruska does not lose his warm smile despite everything he suffered to get to New York.
“It was worth it”, repeat out loud.
“I left Ecuador because there was too much crime and from Venezuela, because of the crisis that is already known. I hope in New York to start a new life with my husband and my princess, who will be born soon, ”she says.
“I am thinking of naming my daughter Victoria. Getting this far is a victory.”
*Several of those interviewed preferred not to reveal their last name
for fear of retaliation.
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