Cold and wet, some shivering, others wrapping themselves in white blankets to stay warm. Parents and kids pushing their positions in suitcases and strollers, that is what I witnessed at the migrants’ family processing center in The Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan. This is an assignment that hits home. While I have been in New York for 35 years, I was born in Venezuela, these are people from my country whom I see suffering struggling to manage the situation. While at this moment I place blame on the city, the issue extends beyond its borders.
It pains me to contemplate closing the border to stem this crisis, but it hurts even more when I consider the hardships these individuals faced in Venezuela, enduring a journey that remains unfinished even in the heart of New York.
A woman emerged from the hotel, and I assumed she had just completed processing. However, she had been living at The Roosevelt for a month, and it was her first time stepping outside. Fear of the unknown was evident in her eyes as I spoke to her. Another person had been there for two weeks, now en route to Chicago to reunite with her uncle. Both considered themselves fortunate, having avoided relocation or reprocessing after the 60-day limit.
Later that night, I went to Times Square to photograph people hit by the heavy rain and wind. I overheard a group speaking Spanish, recognizing the Venezuelan accent I approaching them. They shared with me their arrival the day before, expressing gratitude despite the prolonged processing time. The resilience of those arriving is commendable, something my privilege life may never fully understand. As they stared at the beauty of the city, Times Square, which they had probably seen in movies and only dreamt about of seeing in person, I couldn’t help but smile, at that moment I felt that their hearts were full of hope.
Regrettably, I’m not in a position to offer much assistance, but in front of the hotel, I had to set my cameras down to help translate directions for them—information that had been poorly communicated by staff with limited Spanish. It became clear that this responsibility is falling on individual states when a more effective, federal-level response is needed. As a country, we must find a better way to help these individuals in their time of need.