A group of immigrants who arrived in New York in the last year and who live in The Bronx received a bicycle this Thursday, donated by New Yorkers, as part of an initiative by NGOs and the City Hall that was launched this year to that they serve as a work tool and can thus help their families.

The idea for the “Bikes for Asylum Seekers” pilot program came from the NGO Bike New York, which offers free bike education programs, joined by the Office of Immigrant Affairs and the city’s Department of Transportation to provide newcomers with this means of transport.

Organizations that provide services to immigrants choose the people who will receive the donation, explained to EFE Jairo Guzmán, president and founder of the Mexican Coalition, which is based in a church in a low-income community in the Bronx where the delivery was made today. six women and six men.

Some live in shelters and others in apartments where they share housing with several families “and they are anxious to be able to have a job and ease of movement,” said Guzmán.

These people had come to the organization for help; Once their stories were known, the NGO chose twelve beneficiaries who today received their bicycles, duly set up; In addition, each cyclist was given a helmet and a lock to protect them from theft.

Most of the women who received the bicycle today are street vendors, including Agustina, a Mexican who sells tamales in front of the church and says she will now be able to take her product to other places in the Bronx instead of “waiting to see who will stops to buy.”

Aleida, a 22-year-old Guatemalan who arrived in New York three months ago with her husband and three-year-old daughter, told EFE that the bicycle will allow her to start working delivering meals.

“I want her to work since that will allow me to bring a plate of food to my daughter,” and to help her relatives in Guatemala pay off the loan they made to pay the cartel that kidnapped them (her, her husband, and daughter) when They arrived in Mexico, said the immigrant, who lives in a shelter in the Bronx and came accompanied by the girl.

Aleida also regretted that the 10,000 quetzales (about 1,273 dollars / about 1,159 euros) of the loan that she had to request from the bank became double when it was time to repay it. “That’s a lot of money,” she stated.

Mexican Manuel Castro, commissioner of the Office for Immigrant Affairs, was pleased with the initiative that allows them to help immigrants “on their journey to fulfill their American dream” and with the New Yorkers who have donated the bicycles. As part of this initiative, 200 bicycles have already been donated, half of which have already been distributed.