Asylum seekers in New York City have been raking as much as $3,000 a month working without work permits while living free-of-cost at The Roosevelt Hotel, where they get free food, bedding and even cleaning services.

The historic Manhattan tower, dubbed ‘the new Ellis Island‘ by one city official – has become the registering point for the migrants who arrive by bus in the city after crossing the US-Mexico border in Texas. Many of them have been bused north by Republican governors fed up with what they say are open-arms policies by Democrats.

The hotel is among many in Manhattan that have been designated to house migrant families with children, who have started attending schools in midtown this Fall. The city is currently paying about $385 a night per migrant family that needs housing and feeding. According to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, asylum seekers are costing the city roughly $10 million every day.

DailyMail.com spoke to asylum seekers outside the Roosevelt on Friday, just hours after several buses arrived, and learned many of the migrants living in the shelter have been working as delivery drivers illegally, using dozens of scooters without plates that have become a common sight outside the iconic location.

A 24-year-old Venezuelan man, who identified himself only as Jhon, said he and other men living in the shelter are making as much as $1,500 every two weeks by delivering food and other items – even though they don’t have working driver’s licenses.

A 24-year-old Venezuelan man, who identified himself only as Jhon, said he and other men living in the shelter are making as much as $1,500 every two weeks by delivering food

A 24-year-old Venezuelan man, who identified himself only as Jhon, said he and other men living in the shelter are making as much as $1,500 every two weeks by delivering food

The migrants living in the shelter have been working as delivery drivers illegally, using dozens of scooters without plates that have become a common sight outside the iconic location

The migrants living in the shelter have been working as delivery drivers illegally, using dozens of scooters without plates that have become a common sight outside the iconic location

While many delivery apps like Uber Eats require drivers to submit a license before being able to pick up deliveries, the men outside the hotel told DailyMail.com they have ways of going around this, including using apps designed for bicycle deliveries. 

Asylum seekers can’t work while they wait for the government to consider their claim, which city officials have cited as a factor in the crisis, as migrants are allowed to be here legally but not to support themselves.

However, on Wednesday the Biden administration granted Temporary Protected Status to the nearly half a million Venezuelans waiting for asylum in the U.S. They will now be allowed to work in the country, as mayor Eric Adams had asked.

But many of the Venezuelans outside the shelter hadn’t even heard that they could now apply for work permits under TPS, and the migrants at the Roosevelt have spent months in the city already. In that time came up with ways to make money – and given their living costs are covered by the city, they are able to keep all their earnings.

Moreover, the shelter is housing many families who are not Venezuelan and still don’t have a claim to a work permit as they wait months and sometimes year for their asylum appointments. 

The men told DailyMail.com that when they get caught driving illegally by police, their scooters are taken but they are not detained.  

Melvin Pinto, 30, said the men get the money for the scooters by finding work at places like Home Depot and going house to house offering handymen services. Others have been selling empanadas or umbrellas on the streets. 

When asked why they decided to come to New York City, Pinto said it was because of the support the city offers migrants. 

‘Honestly its because of the support they give us … we don’t have relatives here,’ Pinto said. ‘We’re not lying about needing asylum, we’re running from all the craziness in Venezuela, – and it’s not just hunger, it’s armed groups and corrupt police… if there’s no opportunity[at home] we’re simply going to leave.’ 

Melvin Pinto, 30, said the men get the money for the scooters by finding work at places like Home Depot and going house to house offering handymen services

Melvin Pinto, 30, said the men get the money for the scooters by finding work at places like Home Depot and going house to house offering handymen services

A scooter with what appears to be a foreign plate is seen outside The Roosevelt Hotel shelter

A scooter with what appears to be a foreign plate is seen outside The Roosevelt Hotel shelter

DailyMail.com spoke to asylum seekers outside the Roosevelt on Friday, just hours after several buses arrived

DailyMail.com spoke to asylum seekers outside the Roosevelt on Friday, just hours after several buses arrived

Another young Venezuelan said he had tried migrating to other South American countries first, but he preferred the US. 

‘I left Venezuela in 2018, I was in Ecuador and Colombia before, but its much better here,’ the unnamed young man told DailyMail.com. ‘You feel more safe and like there’s a future.’

The young man told DailyMail.com he traveled to NYC on a bus paid by the city government of Denver, Colorado – one of the cities where Texas governor Greg Abbott has bused migrants as he tries to highlight liberal hypocrisy.  

Like most of the men living at the shelter, Pinto’s son has started gong to a nearby school, on third avenue. 

‘He’s been accepted and it’s all been normal at this school, but I did have to move him from the previous school because he had a problem with other kids bullying him for being from he was from,’ Pinto said.

When asked about the conditions at the shelter, he added: ‘They’re good… we can’t complain … there’s a bathroom in each room… we get food, towels, they even clean the room when you call.’

Indeed, many of the migrants said they chose NYC because of the city’s right to shelter law, which Adams is now seeking to axe.

Senior Adams administration official, Anne Williams-Isom, the deputy mayor for health and human services told WNYC last night: ‘We’re back in court next week to really say, ‘I don’t think that the right to shelter as it was originally written should be applied to this humanitarian crisis in its present form.’

The city first tried to amend the law in May and has been locked in court-ordered negotiations with NY State and the Legal Aid Society, which represents homeless people.

Migrants can also often be seen getting haircuts outside the hotel

Migrants can also often be seen getting haircuts outside the hotel

The Roosevelt Hotel (pictured), Paul Hotel and Paramount Hotel are among those designated for housing migrants in Manhattan

The Roosevelt Hotel (pictured), Paul Hotel and Paramount Hotel are among those designated for housing migrants in Manhattan

New York City’s migrant crisis is expected to cost the city $4.7billion this year. Above is a list of some of the landmarks that have been turned into emergency shelters as officials struggle to house nearly 60,000 migrants in the city’s care 

Progressive Democrats and homeless advocates have vehemently opposed rolling back the right to shelter which is credited with slashing homelessness in the city.

Adams is facing a furious backlash after more than 110,000 migrants have flooded into the city since the spring of 2022. 

The Big Apple has taken in more than double the amount of migrants than the next most-popular cities. Adams has pleaded for state and federal aid as it is estimated the migrant crisis will cost the city $12billion over the next three years.

Houston was listed as the destination for 15,416 people, while 15,329 documented that they were heading to Los Angeles County and 11,081 made their way to Miami-Dade County since May.

Despite mayor Adams’ cries for help from the state and federal government, the city has not received aid to cover the extra costs, so the $4.7billion would come from the city’s budget. That amount is equal to the budgets for the city’s sanitation, fire and parks departments combined.

Adams has warned that the city’s services will be affected by the incredible additional expenses on the budget. He has previously stated the city is planning on cutting services such as library hours, meals for senior citizens, and free, full-day care for three-year-olds.

The situation has already caused several demonstrations by furious New Yorkers.

Earlier this week, chaos erupted outside a Staten Island shelter for migrants as protesters tried to stop asylum seekers from moving in.

About 10 protesters were arrested on Tuesday outside a former Island Shores Assisted Living Facility in Midland Beach, where a crowd met migrants with chants including, ‘Take them back, Take them back.’

Footage from the scene shows protesters banging on the bus windows as they tried to prevent the migrants from disembarking and entering the shelter.

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