Migrants Seeking Hope, Discarded At The Bus Station

Guest post by Lawrence Pfeil, Jr. As summer turns to fall, many of us go through our closets rotating our clothes for the change of seasons; sorting out what we won’t wear – or worse – doesn’t fit anymore. I was in the process of doing that last week when this report aired on the local ABC News affiliate regarding more and more migrants seeking hope, being shipped to New York City and dropped off at Port Authority. I live a few blocks from Port Authority in New York City where buses of migrants have been arriving from Texas by order of Gov. Greg Abbott. His buses arrive almost daily without coordination or advance notice to City officials. Related: Busing Border Migrants Could Cost Texas Millions The 11,600+ asylum seekers have stretched the NYC shelter system to its limits, and Mayor Eric Adams has made national news begging for Federal assistance. But what struck me in the report from local ABC7 Eyewitness News were the non-profits meeting these buses: those welcoming the migrants, and trying to have something – anything – for people who have little to nothing left. https://twitter.com/BPie7/status/1571947054284541952 Looking at a small pile clothes from my closet, which I was getting get rid of, I wondered if they could possibly use them. The following day, I stopped in to the north building of Port Authority to ask if they were accepting clothes. I had a chance to speak with José of Team TLC NYC, a non-profit organization welcoming the asylum seekers and helping to orient them to our city.  I was surprised at how quickly he said, “Yes!” to my offer of used clothes. It inspired me to go home and go aaalllllll the way back in my closets, on top of shelves, and through all the drawers.  By the time I was finished, that small pile had become three bags of clothes, some used, some “I forgot I had this,” and some still with tags on.

Returning the next day, you’d have thought I’d arrived with three sacks of gold given the way José and his team reacted to getting the donation. I don’t recount this out of self-aggrandizement or personal pride, but because it was in fact, very humbling.  Seeing people spending every day caring for asylum seekers who have been callously pushed across the country by elected officials for political ends. These people express so much joy and gratitude in receiving clothes which otherwise might have been tossed out. In the moment, I felt almost embarrassed? Ashamed?  These migrants seeking hope are desperate human beings with nothing. https://www.instagram.com/p/CiipgK_p5p6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link I asked if they were set up to accept more clothing donations because I thought I could reach out to my own contacts and through social media to help spread the word.  They said, “Absolutely, we can use all the help we can get.” I spoke to a well-connected friend with an organization that could step up and really make an impact with donations who was enthusiastic about help. When I went back to Port Authority to put them in touch with each other, buses of migrants had recently arrived which was the first time I’d gotten to see them personally.

I’m still trying to process the experience of seeing them face to face and looking in their eyes: the moment they go from being a headline on the news to individuals, families, small children; when it clicks that they walked for thousands of miles, some through nine countries, to come to America. We take living in America for granted, but for them it’s a matter of life or death. A recent Reuters Institute study found about 40% of Americans today are avoiding the news, and it wasn’t so much about distrust as it was the hopelessness of it. The simple fact is journalism and reporting has become only about sounding alarms – not going one more step and giving us hope by offering the solutions. You and me, we can’t fix our nation’s broken immigration system; we can’t fix sadistic Republicans. But we can support the migrants who have come here with hope, and those helping them. If you live in or around New York City, please go through those closets and bring your donations of clean clothes to the North Building of Port Authority (42nd St & 8th Ave — entrance on 8th Ave) from 8am to 4pm every day (for the foreseeable future). For those of you outside of NYC, please consider donating to one of the non-profits on the ground at Port Authority by clicking on the images below. And finally: Please share, forward, like, and or retweet to help spread the word however you can.  The need is great but every little bit helps and give hope.

Thank you from the City of Immigrants!

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