Number of unaccompanied migrant kids arriving in NYS jumps 60% over four years: records

The number of migrant children arriving in the Empire State without a grownup is soaring, with nearly 7,000 kids now showing up solo in the Big Apple every year, according to records revealed Tuesday.

Stats show that the number of migrant youngsters seeking asylum in the city has jumped by more than 60% over the past four years, experts told the City Council at a special hearing.

“Immigrant youth may be especially prone to falling victim to immigration fraud committed by bad faith actors,” Tom Tortorici, executive director of legal and support initiatives in the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, told city lawmakers.

“Particularly if they lack a stable and trustworthy adult guardian to help them navigate their immigration legal needs,” Tortorici said.

The presentation came at a hearing of two council committees — on immigration and children and youth.

Officials said 4,153 unaccompanied young migrants on average arrived in New York State every year from 2015 to 2019, according to figures from the US Office of Refugee Resettlement.

From 2020 to 2024 the number jumped to an average of 6,684 per year.

In New York City alone about 3,100 unaccompanied children were placed with sponsors between October 1, 2023 and July 31, 2024, according to the stats.

And the number of migrant kids left to fend for themselves could be even higher.

“We’ve also seen young people whose passports were falsified so that they could flee,” Jamie Powlovich, a supervisor at the Coalition for the Homeless, testified.

“But all their other documents or certificates from their home country to indicate that they are in fact minors and then [the city Administration for Children’s Services] does not take them,” Powlovich said. “There is also no consistency on what documentation they are saying young people need.”