New York City officials have announced a strict 60-day deadline for families with children in the city’s shelter system.
Starting next week, some families will receive notifications requiring them to find alternative housing within 60 days, while adult migrants without children will be handed 30-day notices.
Surge of asylum-seekers
This policy shift reflects the city’s ongoing struggle to accommodate the surge of asylum-seekers arriving since the spring of the previous year, with over 126,000 individuals having passed through the shelter system since Spring 2022.
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration acknowledged the need for additional resources, coordination, and support from all levels of government to address this national crisis.
With over 64,100 asylum-seekers still under the city’s care and thousands more arriving weekly, expanding this policy to all asylum-seekers under the city’s care has been deemed the most practical solution by Mayor Adams.
The 60-day deadline
The Mayor’s office has promised to accompany the notices with “intensified casework” aimed at helping asylum-seekers determine their next steps. Those who fail to secure housing within the stipulated deadline will be required to return to the city’s intake center and seek a new placement.
Critics argue that issuing these notices is an attempt by the Adams administration to reduce its obligations under the city’s “right-to-shelter” laws, which mandate that the city provides shelter to anyone in need.
Despite the controversy surrounding this decision, the administration has also revealed plans to open a temporary shelter at Floyd Bennett Field in the coming weeks. This facility will accommodate around 500 families in a “semi-congregate setting” with privacy dividers and locks.
Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, expressed his concern about the policy’s impact on vulnerable families.
“It’s outrageous the way the Adams administration continues to go out of its way to gut New York City’s right-to-shelter protections,” he said. “This policy ensures that all New Yorkers, no matter when they arrived here, can maintain a roof over their heads while they stabilize their lives and get on the road to self-sufficiency.”
Awawdeh added, “Now, Mayor Adams is putting children in danger by forcing some asylum-seeking families to stay in congregate settings as well as mandating families reapply for shelter after 60 days, a move that creates unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles for people who are already struggling.”
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