Asylum Seekers

Woodlands has joined together with other faith and civic groups in the greater Ardsley community to provide assistance to the 70-80 asylum seekers sent to Westchester by NYC to be housed at Ardsley Acres Motel. These folks are all in family groups, some with preschool age children, come from a wide variety of countries (the large part from Central and South America), and are here legally as they go through the process of applying for asylum. The community has been stepping in to meet needs that should, but are not, being met by the organization charged with that task by NYC – and going beyond that. Woodlands has been an important part of that effort – partnering with the Jonah Maccabee Foundation to raise $5,000 for nutritious meals; preparing sandwich lunches for students in ESL classes; serving dinners at the motel; collecting clothing, housekeeping supplies, toiletries, children’s items; joining in a community picnic for the asylum seekers; advocating, and more.

There are so many opportunities for our congregants to get involved in the mitzvah of welcoming the stranger – but the needs do change so check our weekly emails for the current ones.

For now:

Advocacy:
Asylum-seekers want to work while waiting for their cases to be adjudicated. They don’t want to exist on hand-outs, especially while jobs are going unfilled. Here's how you can help. 

Write to President Biden and request that he shorten the wait time for asylum-seekers to obtain work permits.

It can take several years for an asylum application to be adjudicated. You can help:

Write to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, requesting that a Federal Immigration Court be brought to Westchester to expedite asylum petitions. (The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528)

Clothing, etc
From time to time, the asylum seekers have needs that their inability to work prevents them from satisfying themselves and are not met by NYC. We have started an Amazon wish list (WCT – Ardsley Asylum Seekers). Please check it periodically to see how you can help.

Food:
We hope that the food provided to the asylum seekers will improve. Right now, it is substandard and must be supplemented by the community.

• Julie Stein is arranging for freshly cooked meals (restaurant or home cooked) to be served at the motel periodically. If you would like to help when it is our turn to serve dinner, please let Julie know to put you on the list of folks she can call on. SocialAction@wct.org.

• Val Fox s coordinating sandwiches/fruit/cookies for the students at ESL classes being held at St. Barnabas Church. If you would like to be called on to help, let Val know at SocialAction@wct.org.

• Julie and Val are coordinating congregants who want to join together to cook meals for the asylum seekers (who live in very small motel rooms and have no ability to cook meals other than in mini-microwaves). Watch for the call – or let Julie and Val know that you would like to help and they will contact you when dates are set.