Fordham Law Professor Jennifer Gordon is quoted in a Newsday article that follows an Ecuadorian migrant, who arrived in New York City in January 2024 with his two sons, in his journey navigating the country’s complex and overwhelmed immigration system.
Jennifer Gordon, a law professor at Fordham University in the Bronx and an expert in immigration law, said that, amid the spike in asylum cases, a growing number of migrants cannot find an attorney.
“It’s just a massively larger number of people trying to go through the same system,” she said.
Immigration lawyers are taking more unpaid cases, but they can’t keep up with the increased caseload, she said.
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Most migrants don’t have benefactors like Klecka and must find some way to make ends meet beyond what the city provides them.
“It’s that terrible six-month period,” said Gordon, the Fordham law professor, referring to the time before asylum-seekers can receive work permits.
Many people work off the books and rely on city shelters, soup kitchens and other assistance, she said.
“You’ve got to ask yourself, ‘How do people survive?’” she said.