‘Young’ mother seeking US asylum dies in NYC shelter, mayor says

A woman who fled to the US to seek asylum died while in a New York City shelter, the mayor confirmed in a statement.

The “young woman”, who the city said they were legally prohibited from sharing any more personal details about, reportedly died by suicide, New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement shared on social media on Monday.

“The thousands of asylum seekers we have seen arrive in our city came to this country seeking a better life. Sadly though, yesterday, an asylum seeker in one of our facilities took her own life,” read the statement. “Our hearts break for this young woman and any loved ones she may have, and we, as a city mourn her.”

“This tragedy is a reminder that we have an obligation to do everything in our power to help those in need,” he said, before citing the services that are available for newly arrived people to the city, including mental health care at the Asylum Seeker Resource Navigation Center.

“I encourage all asylum seekers who need mental health support to utilize these services, and anyone in our city struggling with anxiety, depression, or mental health challenges of any kind to call 888-NYC-WELL. We are here for you.”

The news of the young woman’s death arrives as the New York mayor is squaring off in a highly public fight with Republican governors to the south who have taken to sending buses of migrants arriving at the US-Mexico border to sanctuary cities. The stunt has been labelled by Democrats and elected officials in northern cities “dangerous” and “inhumane”.

It was unclear if the woman was part of the group of migrants who had been relocated to the city as part of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Lone Star Operation, a scheme that credits sending 2,500 migrants to New York City since 5 August and has sent several more thousand to Chicago and Washington, DC since it began back in April.

The Republican governor has argued that the relocation program is providing “much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities” and is filling “the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border”.

“The Biden-Harris Administration continues ignoring and denying the historic crisis at our southern border, which has endangered and overwhelmed Texas communities for almost two years,” the governor said in a statement last week after sending two more buses to the nation’s capital to park in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ home. “Our supposed Border Czar, Vice President Kamala Harris, has yet to even visit the border to see firsthand the impact of the open border policies she has helped implement, even going so far as to claim the border is ‘secure.’”

At a press conference on Monday, Mayor Adams slammed the widely criticised relocation programs now being implemented by Gov Abbott, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. The conference was notably unrelated to the migrant crisis unfolding in New York City – which has seen 11,000 people arrive in the city seeking shelter since this past May.

“The woman was traumatised by this whole experience,” said the mayor, Gothamist reported. “The failure was the governors that sent people on multi-day bus rides. We didn’t fail in the city. This city is helping people.”

In response to the influx of migrants now relying on the city’s already overtaxed homeless shelter system, the mayor has recently proposed tapping into the cruise ships that lie docked along the Hudson River as a temporary housing option.

“We’re examining everything, from the legality of using any type of cruise ship for temporary housing. We’re looking at everything to see how do we deal with this,” Mr Adams told CBS2 during an interview on Monday.

“We’re looking at that. That was something that the previous administrations, the Bloomberg administration, my understanding is they looked at that during the surge and so we’re looking at that as a temporary measure, not as a permanent measure,” he reassured the host when pressed for details about converting the cruise ships into temporary safe havens for the newly arrived in his city.

For months, migrants have been arriving in Democrat strongholds such as New York, Chicago, Washington, DC and more recently Martha’s Vineyard as local officials level accusations at the Republican governors responsible for the bussing scheme of luring the vulnerable populations under false promises of jobs, housing and legal services.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.