New York, NY—Today, it was reported that Mayor Eric Adams will announce that asylum seeker families with children will be limited to 60 day stays in shelters, after which they will need to reapply for a new placement.
Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition:
“New York’s right-to-shelter protections ensure that our City supports all people who need a roof over their heads while they get their lives on track. This has been a defining policy of how New York has responded to the city’s affordability crisis and cared for our unhoused neighbors – especially families, who need their own rooms in shelters to maintain their children’s safety. Limiting shelter stays to 60 days for asylum seeker families and requiring them to reapply for placement creates significant challenges for already traumatized people seeking refuge. It adds unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, which some families will be unable to navigate. This will result in families and children ending up on the street in the middle of winter, and school attendance being interrupted. We know that moving people out of the shelters with CityFHEPS vouchers would free up space and get people on their feet, while saving the City over $3 billion dollars if they were to expand access to those vouchers to New Yorkers regardless of immigration status. The Adams administration is actively choosing not to implement cost-effective and humane solutions. Kicking families and children out of shelters and onto the streets is a new low, even for the Adams administration.”