NEW YORK (AP) — About 3,000 asylum seekers were given notice that their time in New York City shelters had expired, but about half reapplied to stay, according to a news report.
The most populous city in the United States has struggled to deal with the arrival of more than 120,000 people seeking asylum in the last year. About 60,000 currently live in shelters run by the city, which is legally required to provide emergency housing to homeless people. The obligation is not compared to any other major city in the country.
Mayor Eric Adams announced in July that New York would begin giving migrant adults a 60-day notice before they had to leave city shelters. The rule has since been extended to families with children and reduced to 30 days for adults who are not accompanied by minors.
Migrants, many of whom do not have legal authorization to work, can reapply for shelter if they cannot find another place to live.
Since the 60-day rule went into effect, some 3,025 notices have expired, the Daily News reported Friday. Health and Human Services Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom said Tuesday that about “less than 50%” of people requested to stay; the newspaper estimated that that represents about 1,500 people.
Williams-Isom presented the statistic as a sign that the rule encouraged people to look for their own housing.
A lawyer for the Legal Aid Society did not think so.
“It would make more sense to step up actual case management and help people leave at a time that is most appropriate for them, rather than arbitrarily telling people they have to come back” and reapply on a specific day. attorney Josh Goldfein told the Daily News.
So far, the city has served at least 13,500 60-day notices, many of which have not yet expired, according to the newspaper.
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2023-10-21 18:45:24
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