Transcript: Mayor Adams Delivers Remarks at Press Conference Hosted by National Latino Leaders

May 1, 2024

Juan Proaño, CEO, League of United Latin American Citizens: Good afternoon, my name is Juan Proaño and I'm the CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, the nation's oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization.

I'm joined here today by Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of the Catholic Charities of Rio Grande Valley, Oscar Chacón, co-founder and executive director of Alianza Americas, Abel Núñez, executive director of Central American Resource Center, who will speak shortly.

I also want to recognize my colleagues who also visited New York City, but not with us here today, but have all made the visit with me to New York to meet with Mayor Adams, his administration, and his incredibly dedicated public servants and leaders who have worked tirelessly in service to New York and its new immigrant arrivals.

They include Gaby Pacheco, president and CEO of Dream.US, Adelys Ferro, executive director Venezuelan American Caucus, Raul Raymundo, CEO of the Resurrection Project, Héctor Sánchez Barba, president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota, Rebecca Shi, founder and president American Business Immigration Coalition, and Sergio Suárez, founder and president of Naima.

I also want to thank Deputy Mayor Ana Almanzar, Commissioner Manuel Castro, and Michelle Minguez for bringing us together and sharing with us the process systems and infrastructures that they've developed in an effort to share what they've learned so that we can work together to find long-term solutions in regards to this immigrant crisis.

The United States has always taken pride in our history of being a nation of immigrants. For decades the Statue of Liberty and the state of New York were first the beacons many immigrants saw as they came to New York for better opportunities. As it's been said over the past few years by many advocates and leaders, whether you came here two months ago, two years ago, or 20 years ago. Whether your ancestors arrived here four generations ago, or if you're a first generation immigrant like me, every one of us has a connection to someone who sought an opportunity for safety and freedom on our shores.

While time has changed many things, it has not dimmed the desire to live in the freedom and safety that America has long cherished. The thousands of asylum seekers and immigrants arriving at our southern border are proof that the American dream remains strong as ever. The road towards legal safe and humane immigration has fallen in serious disrepair. Our immigration system is broken and unable to deal with the pressure migration causes on cities, states, and the nation.

Our group had an opportunity to spend time with the leadership and staff in New York City who are on the front lines working tirelessly to find the solution for asylum seekers. We know that this is difficult work, is being done across the country, and we thank those who are helping find a temporary solution. But this national crisis Can't be addressed at the state and local level. It requires federal involvement.

We need a permanent solution, a pathway. a comprehensive bipartisan look at the immigration problem in our country. We must reiterate with our steadfast commitment to advocating for meaningful changes to our nation's long broken and obsolete immigration system, which must include humane treatment of migrants.

As advocates, we continue to call on President Biden and for immediate action on three vital national fronts: Expediting work authorizations for recently arrived and long-term immigrants, allocating sufficient federal funding to support cities dealing with this challenge, and establishing a unified national resettlement strategy to address the underlying issues.

It's time for our nation to rise to the occasion, to stand as a beacon of freedom and welcoming those immigrants seeking refuge and opportunity on our shores. Let us not falter in the face of challenge, but instead seize the opportunity to enact meaningful change. I look forward to continuing to work with Mayor Adams, the Biden administration, state and local leaders, and all those involved in working to find an effective solution for all. Sister Norma.

Sister Norma Pimentel, Executive Director, Catholic Charities of Rio Grande Valley: Thank you, I'm Sister Norma Pimentel from the border of south Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. I'm very pleased to be here at the invitation of Mayor Adams. Thank you for your invitation to witness the amazing work that New York is doing here with immigrants that are arriving to the city of New York.

It is important that we work together to establish a just response that contributes to the well-being of our country. Together we will be a nation that not only protects our borders and the people who enter our country, but establishes procedures that will uphold the dignity of humanity and establish successful processes that will benefit the immigrants and how they can contribute to our country in this nation.

So together, I think we can do a good job if we work to come together and collaborate and make a difference to everybody. Thank you. Abel.

Abel Núñez, Executive Director, Central American Resource Center: Good afternoon everyone. Thank you Mayor Adams for inviting me here. My name is Abel Núñez, I'm the executive director of the Central American Resource Center.

In April of 2022, the city began receiving the buses from Texas and Arizona, and nonprofits and government came together to address the needs of the incoming immigrants. Much of the work was to assist the immigrants as they were coming in, but we need to recognize that 80 percent of the immigrants that went to Washington, D.C. ended up coming or asking to be moved to New York City.

For me, it was very impressive to see what New York City has built in such a short amount of time to address the needs of the immigrants and assist them in their integration process. A huge challenge that we see is the inconsistent policies and the lack of cooperation between the federal government and the local communities. Principally, the lack of work authorization that would allow people to be more independent.

We also need a more national infrastructure of collaboration between cities and the federal government to ensure that receiving cities do not bear the brunt of this. I want to leave you with this, that immigrants are a blessing. They are needed to ensure that the economy remains strong and that the U.S. continues to be a world leader.

Like in the past, New York City has been the entry point to so many newcomers. This is where immigrants embody the words, for me, they embody the words of Frank Sinatra's song. I'll make it in this, a new start in this old New York, "If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere." So yes, it is up to New York, New York. Thank you very much. I want to introduce now Oscar Chacón, executive director of Alianza Americas.

Oscar Chacón, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Alianza Americas: Thank you very much, Abel. My name is Oscar Chacón. I'm the executive director of a network of Latin American, Caribbean immigrant organizations from across the nation. As such we've been dealing with the arrival of people from our countries into cities like New York.

I happen to live in the Chicago area. We've also had our share of arrivals. I have to say that coming to visit at the invitation of Mayor Adams, the actual welcoming system that has been put in place in New York, it's been really impressive. We can criticize imperfections and there are surely many imperfections, but it is admirable.

To see that this city like Chicago, like Washington, D.C., like Denver, recognize that immigrants are indeed a blessing for our country. Not just because of the economic contributions, but because of the many other ways in which we enrich the United States of America.

I want to echo everything that my colleagues have already said. I think it is important to say that we will attempt to actually come next to Chicago, and be able to also get to know more in detail what's going on there in terms of welcoming immigrants into the city of Chicago, but also to work together as cities, as localities, to actually change the way our federal government works when it comes to making really easy for people to get something so basic as the right to work.

We should not just be available to asylum seekers, But anybody who's actually coming to the U.S. with the commitment to making this country great, to making their families and their children able to have opportunities that have been denied to them in the past. I think that that's what brings us together to New York City today. I am now very honored to introduce the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Well said, well said. Really excited to be here and joining these heroes. These are national heroes around the immigration movement and I think that their words resonate so much on how this, not only city, but country has always been a place where dreams come alive.

The contribution, not only did I see it firsthand during Covid. Many of our newly arrivals were willing to maintain the movement of this city when the city was at a standstill. Many of our hospital professionals come from the immigrant community, many of those who were delivering the food services, who were carrying out the normal activity were from our immigrant population.

We benefit from those who come here and state that they believe in what we all believe in, and that's the American dream and American spirit. Long before Frank Sinatra, I believe if you could make it here, you could make it anywhere, and we all share that.

This was so important for us and my heart really wants to thank all of you, but a special thank you to my dear mother, Sister Pimentel. She is unbelievable. As I read up on her I was just filled with so much admiration. So many people call her the Mother Teresa of our day. Her commitment and dedication during this time is showing how humanity must not remain just what we have in our hearts, but how do we heal the hearts of others.

This is an important moment because we knew if we can bring in our national leaders and see what Commissioner Castro has been doing as the commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs. What Chief of Staff Camille Joseph Varlack was doing as we navigated and ensured the opportunities.We knew that if the national leaders could only come and walk through what we're doing, they would realize how this is a model that can be duplicated across the country, and they did that.

They took their time. They sat down with our team. They met with me at Gracie Mansion. They brought all of their expertise. They didn't come here to say we expect perfection. They came here to say we wanted to see dedication and that is what we showed.

There's much more we can do. There's much more we want to do, but we're clear on this. This is a national problem. Cities cannot resolve it on their own. It doesn't matter if it's Denver, Chicago, Boston. We are going to need help and at the heart of this is the right to work. People should have the right to provide for their families and continue to pursue the American dream.

I traveled to Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico. I went to El Paso. It was always our desire to see firsthand those who are coming here to pursue the American dream. We witnessed 194,000 migrants and asylum seekers that have come through our system. Because of our casework, because of the system we've used, 65 percent have taken the next step on the path to self-sufficiency. That is what this dream is about in this country.

We have helped tens of thousands file temporary protective status, asylum and work authorization applications. For the past few weeks despite the fact that thousands of new migrants have continued to come to our city we're seeing a decrease in our population. Because of the procedures we put in place to assist people to move on in their American journey.

The number of migrants in shelters has been falling slightly thanks to the tools that we have used. Cities like Chicago and Denver have stepped up tremendously. My mayor's, Mayor Johnson and Mayor Johnston in Denver, they both understand how important this is for the American experience.

New York City is built by immigrants. We're clear on that. It doesn't mean it's from the early Irish, early Italians, from the African diaspora, from South and Central America. We're seeing the experience of that even in the Ukrainians who have arrived here.

They are allowed to work. If you could work from Ukraine, you should be able to work from South and Central America, and we're calling on that to take place. As these leaders have said, the federal government must lead on this humanitarian crisis. One of the largest humanitarian crises we've witnessed in this region probably in our lifetime.

I want to thank one of our great New Yorkers, Michelle Minguez, for what she has done. I cannot thank you enough Michelle for bringing these leaders here, allowing them to walk through. And those leaders who are not here that are a part of this important time: Gaby Pacheco, Raul Raymundo, Rebecca Shi, Sergio Suárezas. We want to thank all of them for coming here, spending their time, learning what we're doing here.

We can coordinate with best practices to really forge ahead in turning this crisis into an opportunity. Americans need workers, many of our states are decreasing their populations. This is a great opportunity as our new arrivals are here to allow them to participate in their pursuit of the American dream and help us continue to live out the great dream we call America. Thank you very much. Thank you.