Why More Than 1,000 Illegal Immigrants From Africa Gathered Outside NY City Hall

Leah Barkoukis | April 17, 2024 9:45 AM

More than 1,500 illegal immigrants from Africa assembled outside New York City Hall on Tuesday as a hearing took place on the “racial inequities” in the city’s shelter system.

According to reporting from the New York Post, the illegal immigrants were mostly from Guinea and were led there by an unidentified activist group. The illegal immigrants said they had been told by people in the community they would get work visas or green cards if they came.

“They told me that they would help me to get a work permit and a green card if I came here today,” Amadou Sara Bah, 44, who got to the US in November from Guinea, explained, adding he wouldn’t have come to City Hall just for the hearing.
Bah said he was stressed about waiting for a work permit, which he applied for in March, noting it could take about five months to come through and he does not have a lawyer to speed up the process.
By 12:30 p.m., he and his friends were still sitting on a bench near City Hall, but no one had offered to help them.
“There are many people here and we don’t know how to get the help they told us would be here,” he told The Post. “I came here for a green card. I’m looking for help.” [...]
“They told us to be here at this time on this date and they would give us more information,” he said, noting he was told to contact someone via WhatsApp for help but does not have access to a phone. (New York Post)