This project explores the unique challenges of African asylum seekers in New York City and how the concepts of voice and representation impact their experience. The research was conducted through numerous interviews as part of a short documentary film. New York City was founded and built by immigrants and is typically a welcoming hub for people from every nation in the world to live, work, and find community. For decades, the regular influx of immigrants has almost always been manageable for the city, but in the last two years, the city’s migrant processing system has been on the brink of collapse. Over 175,000 migrants have arrived in New York since Spring 2022 (Davies, 2024). Tens of thousands of individuals have been bussed into NY and other Democratic states by Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, while many others have made their way from the Mexican-US border on their own.

This short documentary film and research paper focuses on the African asylum seeker experience in NYC, the unique hurdles they must overcome, and the key organizations and individuals helping Black migrants, in a system that was largely designed to support Spanish-speaking asylum seekers and migrants from Latin America. It will examine how both the lack thereof and eventually having representation and voice impacts African asylum seekers' experience. The ‘migrant crisis’ is an extremely complex and broad issue. This project aims to find clarity through a local perspective and narrow focus.

The research includes seven interviews with asylum seekers, two executive directors of organizations supporting Black migrants, and a City Hall hearing on the experiences of Black migrants. The conversations with these individuals reveal major gaps in the city’s migrant support system and a diaspora community that is providing urgent services to asylum seekers. Language and identity create compounding barriers for Black migrants that impact access to work, shelter, and other services. Community-based organizations like Afrikana and African Services Committee provide vital representation and support for African asylum seekers to help them overcome these barriers.