It's the weeds. I'm Fabiola Sineas sitting in this week for John Colin Hill.

My family has lived in New York City for a few generations. In the late 1960s, my aunt secured a visa to travel from Haiti to the United States.

Then one by one, my other aunts and uncles, grandparents and parents, all made their way to the United States and settled down in Brooklyn.

During this time, they fled the dictatorships of Haitian leaders Faswad Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier.

Their entry back then wasn't without hiccups or the fears around relocating your life to a new country.

Immigration has always been fraught, but migrants today are facing a new set of challenges.

Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see in Indian too. I don't see an Indian to this. I don't see an Indian to this.

This issue will destroy New York City.

That's Mayor Eric Adams speaking about the influx of asylum seekers to the city at a town hall earlier this month.

Since April 2022, more than 115,000 migrants have arrived in New York City. Many of whom are seeking asylum from political and economic hardships in their home countries. Not unlike my family.

The city has said it is running out of space and is on track to spend $12 billion over the next three fiscal years.

The circumstances make it clear. The US immigration system is broken.

The country desperately needs immigration reform as humanitarian emergencies from wars to dictatorships to climate change through invulnerable populations.

Immigration courts are slammed and immigrants have only narrow paths to becoming permanent citizens. Still, some advocates warn this is not a crisis, though Adams's language might suggest that it is.

The city has been successfully absorbing migrants, you know, since the earliest days of this country almost.

That's Julia Gillette, an associate director of the US Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute, where she studies the implications of local state and federal immigration policies.

We know that overall immigrants integrate into the United States. They see upward mobility over time. Their kids do even better than they do. And immigration has been such a source of strength for New York City.

Critics believe that there are clear steps lawmakers can take to alleviate the burden on the city.

They could expedite work authorization for asylum seekers, provide housing vouchers, and better connect migrants with legal counsel.

In response to desperate pleas for help from Adams and other Democrats, the Biden administration announced that nearly half a million Venezuelan asylum seekers are eligible for temporary protected status or TPS, a designation that would allow them to live and work in the US for 18 months without the threat of deportation.

Today on the weeds, we dive into the migrant influx in New York City to understand why it is happening and how expedited work authorization could change a lot for the city and for migrants themselves.

But first, what is it about New York City where the cost of living is so high and affordable housing is scant that has drawn so many migrants in to begin with? Here's Julia again.

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