The new arrivals, who are mostly in their late teens and 20s, are a conspicuous fixture on West 116th Street, where they often congregate. They speak in their native Wolof, which is commonplace in Senegal, and are typically seen tooting insulated food-delivery backpacks on their e-bikes.
Some of them said they shelter in mosques and churches located nearby as well as in the Bronx and Westchester. They reassemble in the early morning, when a line forms outside the Senegalese Association of America's office, near St. Nicholas Avenue, where they go for help completing asylum applications.
What type of "help" is provided?
In NYC... the number of migrants from West African nations like Senegal, Guinea and Mauritania has tripled in the last year alone and garnered worldwide attention.
So few African migrants were staying in city shelters at this time last year that they were grouped under an "other" category in City Hall data provided to Gothamist. But things changed. By Dec. 28, 6% of the 68,000 migrants in the city’s care were from Senegal, the fourth most common country of origin after Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia. Guinea and Mauritania accounted for another 5% and 3% respectively.
This comes as the number of African migrants crossing the southern border has more than tripled over the last year, jumping from 13,406 in fiscal year 2022 to 58,462 in fiscal year 2023, according to data provided by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Source: gothamist.com/news/in-harlem…
