New York City is setting new restrictions on how long immigrants without children can stay in shelters in the city before being told to find their own beds.
The city has struggled to deal with a migrant influx, bused in by Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX), with New York City Mayor Eric Adams complaining that the surge has overwhelmed the city’s accommodations. The city has a “right to shelter” policy, meaning it must provide shelter to anyone who asks. Adams reached a compromise with activists to alter this policy, ending the right to shelter for immigrant adults with no children after 30 days.
Part of the deal held that people may be reviewed and allowed a longer stay on a case-by-case basis. Those aged 18 to 23 are granted 60 days of shelter before they must leave unless they can provide proof of “extenuating circumstances.”
Around 37,000 migrant adults and children have been served eviction notices, according to Patch.
Adams pushed back against people who have criticized the imposition of the policy.
“People said it’s inhumane to put people out during the wintertime, so now they say it’s inhumane to do it in the summertime,” he said. “There’s no good time. There’s no good time.”
Thousands of immigrants are expected to be served eviction notices in the coming months, according to the Associated Press. Adams said New York City has provided free shelter to over 200,000 immigrants since January 2022.
Migrants who do apply for an extension have a high success rate — 118 extensions were approved out of 192, according to Adams’s office.
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An audit of the eviction policy, released by Comptroller Brad Lander, was highly critical of its rollout.
“No written policy was ever promulgated. Staff and contractors did not get that information. The notice that you get when you get a 60-day notice doesn’t tell you that if you’re pregnant, you’re exempt,” he said at a news conference.
