New York City Mayor Adams has announced a new policy that restricts single adult migrants to a 30-day stay in the city’s shelters.
This measure is in response to the consistent increase in asylum seekers. “With more than 60,000 asylum seekers still in our care and without additional help, we will be forced to continue making difficult decisions,” stated Mayor Adams, highlighting the pressing nature of the issue.
The policy, which has been enforced immediately, mandates that all single adult migrants who are granted shelter will be promptly informed of their 30-day tenure.
Additionally, they will benefit from “intensified casework services” designed to help them locate alternative housing solutions within New York or other locations.
In situations where migrants can’t find housing within the given timeframe, they have the option to return and reapply for another month at the Roosevelt Hotel’s asylum seeker arrival center. Migrants already housed will also start receiving these 30-day notices.
This introduction of the 30-day policy emerges as the city grapples with the challenge of accommodating over 60,000 migrants, the majority of whom hail from Latin America.
With several hundred more entering the city weekly, Mayor Adams expressed the urgent need for more support from the federal government and Governor Hochul’s administration.
For families with children, the current restriction doesn’t apply. They can continue to stay in city shelters for an indefinite period. However, reports have hinted that the Adams administration might contemplate similar restrictions for asylum-seeking families with children in the future.
Earlier, Charles Lutvak, a spokesman for Adams, issued a statement emphasizing the mayor’s stance that the city has been compelled to make “difficult decisions” due to the lack of space.
Lutvak said, “New York City has passed its breaking point and we cannot continue to do this alone. If we do not receive the meaningful help we’ve been calling for from our state and federal partners, we will have to make more difficult decisions.”
The new 30-day limit rule succeeds an earlier policy from this past summer, which capped consecutive shelter stays for single adult migrants at 60 days.
Adams’ office stated that since the policy was initiated roughly two months ago, city staff have distributed approximately 13,000 60-day notices.
Opponents of the length-of-stay limitations imposed by the Adams administration argue that these restrictions contradict the local right-to-shelter mandate, which mandates the city to offer shelter to anyone requesting it.
However, the mayor’s legal representatives are in court, requesting a judge’s approval to modify the longstanding right-to-shelter provision, contending that it’s nearly unfeasible to adhere to given the ongoing migrant crisis.
