NYC Colleges to Give Student Credit for Helping Illegal Immigrants File Asylum Claims

A New York University (NYU) flag flies outside the NYU business school in New York on Aug. 25, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Some of New York City’s public and private colleges will be offering students credits for helping illegal immigrants file asylum claims, Mayor Eric Adams’ office announced Tuesday.

Starting this fall semester, students at Baruch College, City College, Hunter College, Queens College, Columbia University, New York Law School, and New York University may get credit if they volunteer to help migrants with their asylum paperwork, according to the mayor’s office.

Specifically, each institution will sponsor three full days at the city’s new “Asylum Application Help Center” by giving their students a chance to volunteer as application assistants. The schools will offer students the opportunity to earn credit for time spent at the center, either in the form of for-credit courses or internships.

According to Adams, the help center has assisted migrants submit over 1,300 asylum applications since its opening in June. The Democrat mayor said he expects the partnership with colleges to help thousands more in navigating the asylum process.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck issue, and we are doing what no one else has done: coming together from all corners of our city to help our newest New Yorkers get their applications in,” he said.

Ballooning Backlog

Having an asylum application filed doesn’t mean it will be reviewed any time soon. With more than 90,000 illegal immigrants arriving since the spring of 2022, the backlog at Empire State’s immigration court system is growing so fast that it would take years to resolve.

As of this June, there are more than 118,000 cases pending across all six New York immigration court locations, according to a database maintained by Syracuse University.

Data suggests that the ever-growing number of pending cases may be fueled by high approval rates at New York City courts. In fact, data suggests that immigration judges in New York City are more likely to approve asylum claims than anywhere else in the United States besides Puerto Rico and Honolulu.

Over the past two decades, Big Apple judges approved asylum in 69 percent of all cases, according to data compiled by Syracuse University. In addition, over the past five years, over a dozen judges ruled in favor of asylum applicants in at least 80 percent of their cases.

The backlog apparently also has to do with the city’s self-proclaimed “sanctuary city” status, which means local law enforcement will not cooperate with federal efforts to apprehend or remove illegal immigrants. Although many people questioned Adams’ commitment to the policy when his administration proposed to move so-called “asylum seekers” out of the city and into nearby New York counties, the mayor insisted that he had never considered such a change.

“We have [been] a sanctuary city for over 40 years, and when you think about ... the law that was put in place or the agreement that was put in place, no one anticipated having 4,200 people come in one week to the city,” Adams said in May in an interview with radio station 1010 WINS.

“What we were going to court to deal with was the various executive orders that some of the county execs put in place to prevent us from having our entire state share this responsibility and burden,” he said.

‘No More Room’

Tuesday’s announcement also comes two weeks after the Adams administration started distributing bilingual flyers at the southern border saying that there is “no guarantee we will be able to provide shelter and services to new arrivals.”

“Please consider another city as you make your decision about where to settle in the [United States],” it reads in English and Spanish. The flyer also tells those attempting to illegally cross the border that “housing in NYC is very expensive” and that “the cost of food, transportation, and other necessities in NYC is the highest in the United States.”

The mayor’s office said this was meant to “combat misinformation at the border.”

“We have no more room in the city,” Adams said at a July 19 press conference, adding that his goal is to “intensify” the effort of helping those who come to the city find shelter and jobs, not to “increase street homelessness.”

There are an estimated 55,000 illegal migrants currently under New York City’s care. Combined with the existing homeless population, the total number of people currently sheltered in the city has reached over 105,000.

The mayor also called on President Joe Biden to “immediately” allocate more resources to help the city handle the illegal immigration crisis.

“If we do not get these urgently needed resources, we may struggle to provide the proper level of support our clients deserve while also facing challenges as we serve both a rapidly growing shelter population and new clients who are seeking asylum,” Adams said.