{"id":22851,"date":"2024-11-15T08:46:37","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T13:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/multi.nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/?p=22851"},"modified":"2025-02-13T09:40:21","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T14:40:21","slug":"asylum-seekers-in-brooklyn-share-their-thoughts-amid-trumps-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/asylum-seekers-in-brooklyn-share-their-thoughts-amid-trumps-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Asylum Seekers in Brooklyn Share Their Thoughts Amid Trump’s Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Tareq Saghie<\/a><\/p>\n

Brooklyn’s longtime residents weren\u2019t alone\u2014asylum seekers who live in the borough also felt a mix of dread and excitement after Donald Trump\u2019s election win.<\/p>\n

Some of the newest immigrants living in Brooklyn said the incoming administration could have a devastating impact on their families, while others were somewhat optimistic\u00a0that things might not be as bleak as immigration advocates warn it could be.<\/p>\n

The president-elect has vowed to crack down on sanctuary cities<\/a> like New York City and launch a mass deportation program that could expel up to one million immigrants without citizenship per year, incoming Vice President JD Vance said in a recent interview with the New York Times Magazine<\/a>. This could affect\u00a0about 4.5 million people residing in New York, according to the New York Immigration Coalition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While some fear being deported to places they fled for their lives, others are confident that the new administration will only deport bad actors and will sympathize with their genuine attempts to contribute to the country.<\/p>\n

Nerves are running high about a changing immigration policy, but many asylum seekers who spoke to BK Reader think similarly to most Americans<\/a>\u00a0and said they consider\u00a0economic policies the most important part of the president\u2019s platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll make the economy better, there will be more work opportunities, and once we receive work papers, we will be able to get ahead,\u201d said Diego Blanco, 30, from Colombia, who lives at the Hall Street shelter complex in Clinton Hill. \u201cHe can\u2019t remove us all because there are people who really deserve to be here. He is intelligent enough to understand this.\u201d<\/p>\n

One recent immigrant said President Joe Biden’s policies are not working for them and change is, in fact, needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wait six months for permission to work and even with it there isn\u2019t any work,\u201d said David Roja, 40, an asylum seeker from Venezuela who also lives on Hall Street.<\/p>\n

While frustrated with the current economy, Roja said he is also frightened of Trump’s deportation proposals and is planning on leaving the country in December.<\/p>\n

Alhassane Damba, a 21-year-old asylum seeker from Guinea living in a shelter in Bushwick, came to the United States after his friend was killed in front of him at a demonstration against the junta that seized power there in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents said I should come to America because America is a safe place that protects democracy,\u201d he said. \u201cI used to believe it, but not now. With [Trump] coming, I sincerely don\u2019t feel safe now. I don\u2019t know where to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another asylum seeker living on Hall Street, who asked to use the name Barry, said he was incarcerated and tortured for demonstrating for democracy with the opposition in Guinea. He said that Trump\u2019s pledge<\/a> to use the military against protesters resembles the persecution he escaped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t go back to our country. If we get deported, it\u2019s just like killing someone,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want our lives to be protected, so I want him to reverse all of his statements about immigrants and let him consider immigrants [as] humans.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York City Mayor Eric Adams tried to allay fears<\/a> of mass deportation\u00a0on Nov. 7 and said he will work with the new administration and Congress “to develop a realistic and compassionate national strategy for our immigration system,” which includes pushing Congress to provide expedited authorization for asylum seekers who are already here and want to work.<\/p>\n

Manuel Castro, commissioner of Immigrant Affairs, said\u00a0in Spanish that the city will be protecting immigrants’ information and will not be following the instructions of the federal government in cases of mass deportations,\u00a0according to the transcript provided by the mayor’s office.<\/p>\n

Castro said City Hall will have to wait and see what the Trump administration will do over the next few months.<\/p>\n

Despite Trump\u2019s promises,\u00a0many asylum seekers in Brooklyn said they are confident that they will be exempt from deportation since they have followed all legal procedures and submitted their asylum applications.<\/p>\n

After surviving repression in their home countries, exploitation on their journeys, and marginalization in New York, some have gained the confidence that no one can make them leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Africa, we don\u2019t have nothing. We are here to make money and support our families,\u201d said Moussa Sie, 48, from Mauritania, who lives at the Hall Street shelter complex. \u201cHe can\u2019t move me back to Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Tareq Saghie Brooklyn’s longtime residents weren\u2019t alone\u2014asylum seekers who live in the borough also felt a mix of dread and excitement after Donald Trump\u2019s election win. Some of the newest immigrants living in Brooklyn said the incoming administration could have a devastating impact on their families, while others were somewhat optimistic\u00a0that things might not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5904,"featured_media":22852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,2717],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whats-buzzin","category-bk-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAsylum Seekers in Brooklyn Share Their Thoughts Amid Trump's Win - Brooklyn News and Events<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/asylum-seekers-in-brooklyn-share-their-thoughts-amid-trumps-win\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Asylum Seekers in Brooklyn Share Their Thoughts Amid Trump's Win\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By: Tareq Saghie Brooklyn’s longtime residents weren\u2019t alone\u2014asylum seekers who live in the borough also felt a mix of dread and excitement after Donald Trump\u2019s election win. 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