In New York City and other large communities, many migrants gravitate to food delivery jobs. However, the work isn’t without hazards: Thieves target the electric bikes delivery people often use.
The New York Police Department recorded 11,157 thefts of bicycles valued at $1,000 or more between 2018 and 2023.
Officials estimate there are at least 65,000 food delivery workers in New York City. An unknown percentage are newly arrived asylum-seekers. For such immigrants, food delivery jobs work well. There are plenty of customers and it’s easy to get started. The main requirement is an electric bike.
The rise in these asylum-seeking workers reflects an increase in migration at U.S. borders. Since January 2022, over three million migrants were granted U.S. entry through various means. Some have permission to stay up to two years and obtain work permits. Others work without legal permission.
Fidel Luna has delivered food in Manhattan since he arrived from Mexico in 2020. In January, he tracked his stolen e-bike to a building and notified police. But he says repeated inquiries to police got no response.
Luna borrowed his brother’s bike in order to keep working. He keeps track of his original bike and plans to intercept it if the right moment comes along. Police declined to comment on his case.
“I would like the police to help, but I cannot wait,” Luna laments. “I need to get my bike back.”
Police insist they have been vigilant against theft. “The NYPD will answer all calls for service and investigate all crimes reported regardless of immigration status,” the agency states.
Dissatisfied with the police response, some delivery drivers band together.
Juan Solano migrated from Mexico in 2017. He founded a group of delivery workers who help retrieve stolen e-bikes. The group has more than 50,000 followers on Facebook. There’s also a WhatsApp channel to alert delivery workers of robberies in real time.
Thieves prey in particular on those traveling alone. Solano’s nephew, Sergio, says he recently waited for other workers before crossing the Willis Avenue Bridge into Manhattan. After crossing, they turned back after being alerted that someone else was being robbed while traveling alone.
“The robber had some type of weapon, but we decided to confront him anyway,” Solano says. Outnumbered, the thief fled without the bike.
Chinese immigrant Brad Song has been in the country since July 2023. After delivering an order in February, he thought his e-bike was about to be stolen for a second time in less than a month.
Seven strangers surrounded Song and knocked him off his bike. He escaped when a nearby motorist revved his engine and the assailants fled.
The attackers damaged his bike’s brakes and shattered his phone screen. The attack rattled Song. But his bike and body came away intact.
“I shudder to think what might have happened if they had brandished a knife or a gun,” Song says.
He eventually purchased a car to make deliveries.