The City of New York reported that it will limit the time that immigrant families with children can stay in shelters to 60 days, a decision that according to Mayor Eric Adams is due to the fact that the city does not have enough spaces for the thousands of people who continue to arrive. from the border.
The city had already limited the stay of single adults to 30 days; However, it had not made a similar decision with the families so as not to affect the children, and even went so far as to evict single people from the hotels it had rented as a refuge to place the families there.
“While the city is still seeking additional support from federal and state partners, it will begin providing a 60-day notice to families with children to find alternative housing, along with stepped-up social work services to help them explore other housing options,” indicates a statement from the mayor’s office.
Adams assured that expanding this policy to all newcomers “is the only way to help immigrants take the next steps” in their goals.
The move comes as migrant crossings at the border with Mexico have resumed and Texas has increased busing, resulting in “an unsustainable increase” in migrants, according to Adams.
He indicated that in the past 17 months more than 126,700 asylum seekers have arrived – most of them Venezuelans, although a large number of Africans have recently been registered – with an average of 600 people per day last week.
He highlighted that some 64,100 immigrants are still under the care of the city, to which are added homeless New Yorkers, who are provided with three meals a day, accommodation, medical services and free education for the more than 20,000 children.
This situation has led to the city having to open 210 shelter locations, including several hotels, and 17 humanitarian aid centers.
Adams also reported that Floyd Bennett Field, a disused former airfield in Brooklyn managed by the federal government, with capacity for about 2,500 people, will open in the coming weeks to serve families with children, a decision that the legal aid group Legal Aid He already warned that he could challenge in court.
The legal aid group Legal Aid, which represents immigrants, and the Immigrant Coalition said in a statement that limiting shelter to families with children “who have endured unimaginable suffering on their trip to New York lacks humanity.”
After intense claims from the mayor and governor Kathy Hochul, President Joe Biden’s Administration agreed to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Venezuelans for 18 months, due to extraordinary conditions in their country that prevent them from returning.
2023-10-16 23:40:00
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