(NewsNation) — Migrants and asylum-seekers navigating a new life in American sanctuary cities are often willing to do whatever is necessary to make financial ends meet, which can be difficult without legal work authorizations.
In places like New York, Denver, and Chicago, new arrivals are left to strike out on their own to support themselves and their families.
On Thursday, May 9, NewsNation rides with law enforcement at the border, showing you the border the way no other news network can. See it May 9, on a special edition of “Dan Abrams Live” at 9 p.m. Eastern (8 p.m. Central). Find out your channel at joinnn.com.
Some migrants work for cash by washing windows and hawking candy or food to strangers on the street. Others find ways to skirt authorizations.
Coast Guard, Florida bracing for more migrants at seaEither option often comes with risks and long hours. Migrants say it's worth it for a chance to chase their version of the American dream.
“It’s hard to be in a new city. You don’t know where to start,” Edelyn Flores, a Venezuelan migrant in Chicago, told NewsNation in Spanish. “It’s hard, but I feel capable of starting from scratch.”
She added: “I came to this country to get ahead.”
Migrant work authorizations a waiting game
In Chicago, where more than 41,000 migrants have been sent since 2022, only a small fraction are authorized to work legally.
........