2 more buses of migrants arrive in New York City
NEW YORK -- Another group of migrants arrived in New York City on Tuesday morning.
Two buses were seen pulling into the Port Authority bus station.
Outreach groups were on hand to help these latest arrivals with resources they may need.
Manuel Castro, the commissioner of the Office of Immigrant Affairs, had a strong message for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for sending these migrants to our area.
"What we have here is a right-wing political extremism crisis. What Abbott is doing here is fomenting anti-immigrant and anti-Latino hatred," he said. "This is the use of human beings, innocent families and children, for political purposes."
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CBS2's Astrid Martinez spoke to one family who left everything behind to give their children a brighter future and embarked on an exhausting, difficult and dangerous journey.
The migrant Venezuelan family says they risked their lives -- hitchhiking, taking buses and walking thousands of miles through rivers and roads, including the Darién Gap, one of the most impenetrable, lawless stretches of jungle in the world where South America meets Central America.
It's a route where people get raped and killed, say Crisman Urbaez and his partner, Anabel Gonzalez, but it's one they had to take with their two children and puppy to get to the United States.
The young couple said they left Venezuela for Peru in 2018, fleeing a rise in crime and and poverty. After experiencing discrimination, they began their two-month, 10-country trek.
They crossed the Rio Grande at the Texas-Mexico border, where they officially requested asylum.
From Texas, they were boarded on buses for a three-day trip to Manhattan, where their immigration case was recently heard.
Urbaez says he's eager to get his working papers in order to start his new life, but migrants are required to wait a year to receive a work permit.
"The year is, you know, a long time ... They can be back in the street if we don't help them to get on their feet," said Robert Gonzalez, an immigration advocate with the Venezuelan Alliance for Community Support.
Gonzalez has been helping the family navigate the shelter system.
"Start a life here, be able to work, to be part of the economy system of New York City," he said.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help them start their new life. To donate, click here.
Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul told CBS2 she's trying to expedite the work permits for migrants. That request needs approval from the federal government.
In the meantime, the Urbaez-Gonzalez family is learning to love their new country because like many other migrants, they believe there is nothing in their native country to go back to.