After revealing last month that very few of the over 76,000 migrants who’ve come through the Big Apple since last year have actually applied for asylum, Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday announced he’s opening a center to help newcomers fill out and submit their claims.
The mayor also said his administration is putting $5 million towards funding legal assistance groups that operate clinics and offer workshops on pro se representation — teaching migrants how to represent themselves in court. That amount falls well below the $70 million in legal assistance funding city Comptroller Brad Lander and Council Member Shahana Hanif (D-Brooklyn) called on Adams to include in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget last month.
