Little Venezuela: The Queens avenue transformed by migrants fleeing a Socialist tyrant for the American Dream - but locals complain 'the block is ruined' with desperate families begging and prostitutes hawking sex in the street

Roosevelt Avenue in Queens has long been a safe haven for newly-arrived migrants looking for a piece of the American Dream, but a current wave of Venezuelan asylum seekers has transformed the area.

The surge of migrants, mostly from Venezuela and Ecuador, has been compared to the one seen in the early 20th century, when hundreds of thousands of Europeans arrived at Ellis Island in search of opportunity.

Some of the Venezuelans in New York City say they are fleeing hunger and repression under the regime of socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro. Others say they are escaping the xenophobia and harassment they faced in the Latin American countries they originally migrated to. They all agree they want to live somewhere where they can work hard in the hopes of one day affording a better life. 

Long-time residents of Queens, many of whom are migrants themselves, complain that the neighborhood has been 'ruined' by the rapid and vast influx of Venezuelans, with desperate families begging for money and prostitutes hawking sex in the street.

DailyMail.com saw scores of food vendors along Roosevelt Avenues with newly-arrived migrants selling arepas, empanadas and other traditional treats that are slowly becoming staples of Queens offerings.

As many as 140,000 migrants have arrived in the city since the spring of 2022 after completing a perilous journey that begins in the jungle of the Darien Gap and leads to the desert in the US-Mexico border. 

Roosevelt Avenue in Queens has long been a safe haven for newly-arrived migrants looking for a piece of the American Dream

Long-time residents of Queens, many of whom are migrants themselves, say the area has been particularly affected by Venezuelans

DailyMail.com spoke to multiple Venezuelan street vendors who said they are either currently staying in shelters or have recently been ejected due to the city's newly-established stay limits aimed to help mitigate the crisis.

NYC mayor Eric Adams has been forced to turn hotels, former schools and empty lots into emergency housing for migrants, which are expected to cost the city $12billion across three years. 

Many of the Venezuelan vendors DailyMail.com spoke with said that they have not been able to obtain their own place because they can't afford move-in costs. 

One Venezuelan woman named Emily, 24, said she's living in a rented room with her two kids, her brother and niece while she saves money from her job as a manicurist on Roosevelt Avenue. All the women working at the salon were newly-arrived migrants from Venezuela or Colombia.

A couple, Yadira and Yonaiker Anez, said they are living in their car while they work selling arepas to make enough money for a security deposit to rent an apartment. 

They had first migrated to Colombia, but Yadira did not feel safe being so close to Venezuela, where her son was killed by the regime.

'I did not feel safe in Colombia... here I have goals even though the cold is hard when you're working out here,' Yadira told DailyMail.com at her arepa stand, adding that she makes about $150 on a good day.

At another Venezuelan food stand, Jhofrey Olivier and his 12-year-old son were on a scooter waiting for an order to deliver. The family had first migrated to Chile but decided to migrate again and now living at The Roosevelt Hotel.

The owner, Yoalbert Chirinos, first migrated to Colombia, but said he left because of prejudice towards Venezuelans and the failing economy.

'Colombia was very hard both with xenophobia against Venezuelans and the economy,' he said. 'It's not easy here, but we are grateful for the opportunity to work.' 

It's not just the food selections and flags that have changed on the stretch of Roosevelt Avenue along the neighborhoods of Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Corona. Longtime residents of the area told DailyMail.com that the people arriving in the city have a level of desperation they had not seen before in the immigrant enclave.

Pawn shop manager Alex Amaya, who has worked in the area for over a decade, said on Tuesday that he has recently started seeing a new type of customer - Venezuelans selling gold as they claim they need the funds to eat.

Yadira Anez  said she did not feel safe in Colombia being so close to Venezuela, where she claims her son was killed by the regime

Yadira is seen with her husband Yonaiker. They are living in their car until they can afford move-in costs for their own apartment 

'There has definitely been a recent wave of migrants from South America coming in the shop, mostly Venezuelan and Ecuadorians,' Alex said, noting that he did not see many Venezuelans coming in before the last year. 

'Many come here selling gold, I don't know if it's relics they carried with them through their journey or it they're stolen items, I cant stop to think about that,' he said. 'People now come in saying if we don't buy what they're selling they won't have anything to eat - how do you say no to that? That didn't happen here before.'

In 2000, there were only about 107,000 Venezuelans in the US, a very small number when compared to that of other South American nationalities like Colombians, which reached over half a million in the nation the same year. 

But after more than two decades of what Maduro's predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, referred to as '21st Century Socialism,' Venezuelans have become one of the largest-growing migrant population in the US, and New York is bearing the brunt of the crisis. 

According to the most recent US Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS), there were 545,000 Venezuelan immigrants in the US in 2021. That number is certainly far higher now, as at least 50,000 Venezuelans entered the US unlawfully in just the month of September, when they briefly eclipsed Mexicans as the largest nationality illegally crossing the border. 

According to Panama's National Immigration Service, more than 200,000 Venezuelans crossed the Darien Gap this year on their way to the United States. 

Edgar, an Ecuadorian migrant who has worked a a street vendor on Roosevelt Avenue for a decade, said the new wave of migrants 'has ruined the block.' 

He added: 'They don't work, you see them asking for money or selling candy around here.... in less than a year things here have really turned.'

At another Venezuelan food stand, Jhofrey Olivier and his 12-year-old son were on a scooter waiting for an order to deliver. They are living at shelter at The Roosevelt Hotel

Yoalbert Chirinos, a Venezuelan who first migrated to Colombia, said: 'It's not easy here, but we are grateful for the opportunity to work'

Edgar, a street vendor in the area for over 10 years, said migrants have 'ruined the street.' Olga, seen with him, said she doesn't go out dancing anymore because of sex workers in the area

Olga, one of Edgar's buyers on Tuesday, told DailyMail.com she has lived in the area for 27 years and has seen a downwards spiral in the last year.

'I don't feel safe around here for the first time in 27 years, this area has been lost,' the Colombia native said, adding that she has stopped going to her old spots to dance with her husband because of the constant presence of sex workers.

As previously reported by DailyMail.com, sex workers can be seen soliciting at all hours of the day and night on Roosevelt Avenue. 

DailyMail.com also witnessed men offering fake social security numbers, which the avenue has long been known for.  

But for Sandra Sayago, who owns the popular El Budare restaurant that has become central for Queen's Venezuelan community, the people are migrating not by choice, but because of necessity. 

Sayaho, who has been in NY for seven years, said she used to get excited when she heard a fellow Venezuelans' accent in the city, because it happened so rarely. Now, the former doctor from Tachira state, runs a successful business where she sees her fellow countrymen walk in with horrific stories about their journeys to New York.

For Sandra Sayago, who owns the popular El Budare restaurant that has become central for Queen's Venezuelan community, Venezuelans are migrating not by choice, but because of deep necessity.

Sayago added: 'I came on a plane, these people are now walking through the jungle to get here'

'We Venezuelans are facing a forced migration,' Sayago said, explaining that she was compelled to leave her beloved nation because she couldn't find basic needs for her daughter. Moreover, she was a loud opponent of Maduro's regime, and said she was persecuted over her participation in protests. 

Sayago added: 'I came on a plane, these people are now walking through the jungle to get here... many walk in here and haven't eaten for two days. They are hungry and thirsty ...  many have seen horrific things in their journeys... we help them in any way we can.'

Wilmer Solorzano, on his part, had first migrated to Panama, but said he decided to leave after his restaurant suffered from intense xenophobia against Venezuelans in Panama - which along with Colombia, Peru and Chile have taken in millions of Venezuelans in less than 10 years.

Solorzano set up a food stand he named 'Venezuela Nueva Esperanza,' (New Hope for Venezuea), that he hopes will collect funds to help his people both inside his native country and in the US.

'I migrated out of necessity in 2016, but when I finally found a new home [in Panama] I still felt something was missing - my land and my people. I had a calling from God to help the situation in any way,' the Guarico state native said of his choice to move to New York, adding that he's hoping to build a web of Venezuelan business owners to raise funds to donate to the cause. 

Many of the Venezuelan migrants who have recently arrived in the city first emigrated to other counties, particularly Chile and Peru. Many of them cite xenophobia against Venezuelans in these countries as one of the reasons they left, claiming their businesses were affected and they were targeted by authorities for being undocumented. 

Solorzano and many others told DailyMail.com they have felt more welcomed in New York.

Wilmer Solorzano, on his part, had first migrated to Panama, but said he decided to leave after his restaurant suffered from intense xenophobia against Venezuelans in Panama

Solorzano set up a food stand he named 'Venezuela Nueva Esperanza,' (New Hope for Venezuea), that he hopes will collect funds to help his people both inside his native country and in the US

'Queens belongs to Latinos,' he said. 'There is always going to be bad actors in a situation like this, but people should not conflate them with the rest who are just looking to make a living and pave the way for the ones who come after.'

Venezuelans represent the largest displacement crisis in the world, with more than 7.7million people outside their nation - even larger than Ukrainians and Syrians. It's a rare case of massive migration from a country that is not at war but has seen one of the most extreme fortune reversals in recent history after the socialist takeover 20 years ago.

Many of the migrants have been bused north by Texas governor Gregg Abbot in a campaign to call out what he calls open-border policies by Democrats.  Most come from extreme poverty and get to the city with no resources at all.

In September, the Biden administration issued temporary legal status for an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans who had arrived in the country as of July 31. That was on top of the 242,000 who were previously covered under TPS grants in 2021 and 2022. 

Biden also resumed deporting Venezuelans on October 18 for the first time in years after the Chavista regime made a deal with the US government to start allowing the flights back to the country.

After deportations resumed, the number of Venezuelans detained at the border plummeted by 45 percent.

Mexicans are back as the largest nationality crossing the border illegally, with Venezuelans now in second place, followed by Honduran, Guatemalan, Colombian, and Chinese migrants.