Immigrant advocates and some elected officials are calling on the Adams administration to invest more money into academic and early childhood programs for the city’s immigrant youth population, including asylum seekers.

“I was in school in my home country, but because of all of the political turmoil that there is, I was unable to keep going,” Giovanny Exilus, a migrant student, said.

Exilus, 20, who is originally from Haiti, is among the more than two hundred thousand migrants who have moved into the city in the last two years and one of thousands who’ve enrolled in the city’s public schools.

He joined advocates outside of Tweed Courthouse on Chambers Street in Manhattan Thursday and called on Mayor Eric Adams to direct more of the city’s resources toward education for the city’s immigrants.

Specifically, $800,000 to grow the number of high schools that can support them, including transfer schools, which are smaller high schools that cater to students who’ve dropped out of school or fallen behind in required credits.

“I had amazing teachers, amazing school leadership, amazing school mentors,” Exilus said. “They help me apply to college. They help me in many ways.”

Exilus will graduate with his high school diploma from Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day High School next week before he heads to John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the fall.

Though, some of the newly arrived migrant children who have enrolled into city schools need specialized attention ranging from language lessons to support for trauma, which is something advocates for migrants and some elected leaders insist the city is ill prepared for.

“Every dollar that we invest in you all to go to school, to learn English, to get jobs, is an investment in our city,” Councilmember Jennifer Guitierrez said.

Demands include $4 million for the Immigrant Family Communication and Outreach Initiative to assist in public schools’ communication with parents who don’t speak English as a first language.

“We also have organizations behind me that can provide the services that the government is failing to provide,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said.

“My mom immigrated [to the U.S.] from the Dominican Republic in the late 1970’s,” Councilmember Christopher Marte said. “I had to communicate what my mom was advocating for to my teacher. That’s wrong.”

Advocates also ask for $25 million for the city’s Promise NYC program, which provides access to childcare services for undocumented children and families, so that immigrant parents can work.

NY1 has reached out to the mayor's office about this matter, but has not yet heard back. 

Promise NYC, which offers childcare for immigrant families, launched in January of last year and partners with community-based organizations to help immigrant families who don’t qualify for other state or federal programs due to their immigration status.

In a statement a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said, “Our administration deeply believes that every child deserves the opportunity to succeed, no matter where they came from, and we look forward to adopting a budget that reflects the administration and the council’s mutual priorities around support for immigrant youth and their families, rebuilds our economy, protects public safety, and makes our city more livable for working-class people.”