Has New York City turned a corner in the migrant crisis?

NEW YORK - Since spring 2022, around 224,000 migrants, according to a city spokesperson, have crossed the U.S. border and trekked to New York City.

As the numbers grew, throughout the crisis, we decided to take a closer look. In November 2023, we launched our series, "Migrants in America: In Their Own Words." Over the last year, FOX 5 NY's Stephanie Bertini has told personal stories of the migrants who have come to New York City. Now, as the series marks a year, we are taking a look back. In the meantime, the city says we have turned a corner in the crisis:

"We continue to see a decline in the number of people entering our shelter system each week. In response to this trend, we are consolidating our emergency shelter operations and scaling down the number of sites in use," a city spokesperson tells FOX 5 NY.

The city now reports 56,000 migrants in its care, a significant drop from earlier this year but a large enough number to keep quality-of-life concerns top-of-mind for these migrants and the neighborhoods that shelter them.

As 2024 comes to a close and President-elect Donald Trump promises mass deportations, we take a look at where New York City's migrant crisis stands and what could happen to the migrants searching for the American Dream. We also revisit the story of one Venezuelan migrant who shared where he sees his future in the Big Apple.

Dennis's American Dream

Dennis Rico, who arrived in New York City in 2023 as part of a wave of migrants seeking a better future, is turning his hopes into reality, one arepa at a time. His journey began modestly, selling arepas outside Manhattan's Row Hotel, once a 1,300-room luxury accommodation that the city converted into a shelter amidst the historic migrant crisis. 

Each day, for 10 hours, Rico can be found outside, serving up his country's traditional maize dough delicacies. When FOX 5 NY's Stephanie Bertini first met Rico in 2023, he said life was "very hard," earning $100 to $120 per day. Now, his loyal customer base has grown, primarily among fellow migrants who find comfort in the familiar taste of his homemade arepas. He told Bertini he'd upped his daily earnings to approximately $250-$300.

Dennis confirms that his situation has considerably improved since his family of three were granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) upon entering the United States. His daughter is now in school, learning English, and he's in the process of getting an apartment.

His ambitions are high, with dreams of transforming his stand into a brick-and-mortar arepa store.

Evolution of the migrant crisis

Since the spring of 2022, New York City has experienced an unparalleled surge in its migrant population, as over 224,000 who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum made their way to the Big Apple. This influx of new arrivals marked the beginning of a significant migrant crisis for the city, a historical moment that has posed humanitarian and logistical challenges.

In the early days, NYC Mayor Eric Adams extended a warm welcome to the migrants, affirming New York's status as a sanctuary city with a robust right-to-shelter mandate. New York City offered a range of services, including food, clothing, and medical care, in response to the immediate needs of the newcomers.

However, the sheer number of migrants arriving soon overwhelmed the city's accommodations, leading many to find themselves without a place to stay. Queues of migrants flooded sidewalks outside The Roosevelt Hotel, the city's official intake center, as local shelters reached capacity.

According to a Department of Investigation report, the nightly population in city-funded shelters ranged from 45,000 to 55,000 from 2020 until mid-2022 and had grown to more than 87,000 by fall 2024, largely because of the large numbers of migrants who have arrived over the past two years. The city spent $4 billion on homeless shelters in fiscal year 2024, up from $2.7 billion in 2022, according to the report.

The growing crisis led to increased city restrictions. Notably, an executive order established by Adams late last year set limits on where and when migrants could be dropped off by charter buses. (The state of Texas began offering migrants free bus rides to cities with Democratic mayors, with at least 46,000 sent to New York). The city also reined in its right-to-shelter mandate, a provision that once obligated the city to shelter anyone who asks for it.

The migrant crisis unfolding in New York City ran parallel to intensified situations at the U.S.-Mexico border. In June 2024, President Joe Biden called for a halt to asylum processing at the border in times when officials deemed it overwhelmed, leading to tightened federal immigration policies in September.

Power Malu, from the organization Artists, Athletes and Activists, has worked closely on the ground with migrants. He told FOX 5 NY he has noted a recent decrease in the number of migrants arriving in the city.

On the front lines, the numbers have slowed down when the executive order was put in by President Biden …. And yes, the numbers have gone down, but we still have people in shelters and in limbo," he said.

The city also said its Asylum Application Help Center has submitted more than 84,000 applications for work authorization for migrants in its care.

"70 percent of eligible adults have either completed applications or been approved for work authorization. As a result of the above efforts, since intensive case management services began in October 2023, 42 percent more families with children in humanitarian centers each week have been able to take their next steps out of shelter and towards building a life of self-sufficiency," city officials said in a statement.

Will Trump's deportations impact the migrants in NYC?

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to use the military and police to deport millions of migrants in the country illegally. 

The incoming Trump administration has provided very few details on how a mass deportation using the military would work. He said he would prioritize deporting migrants with criminal records, but it is unclear who comes next.

Trump has suggested he'd scale back the use of Temporary Protected Status under his new administration. This accounts for more than 1 million migrants living and working legally in the U.S., including Dennis Rico and his family.

It is unclear how the government would find and detain migrants with clean records. Trump is likely to also face many financial and legal hurdles in his efforts to deport millions, making the future for these migrants in America uncertain.