Mayor Eric Adams on Monday claimed that the end of a pandemic-era immigration policy sparked the arrival of more than 5,800 migrants in the city over the previous week, straining New York’s homeless shelters and social services. But interviews with volunteers in New York and Texas who help new arrivals with housing, food and transportation say it’s unclear whether migrants from the southern border are responsible for the city’s rising homeless population.
“It’s not clear to me how they are making the determination who is an asylum-seeker and who is a New Yorker that’s searching for shelter,” said Catherine Trapani, executive director of Homeless Services United.
Trapani said the city may be accounting for a larger universe of foreign-born people in dire straits and in need of a place to stay while using the crisis at the southern border as a scapegoat. “I don’t know what their methodology is,” she said.
On Monday, Adams said a sudden uptick in migrant arrivals — he reported more than 5,800 last week and 4,200 the week before — has pushed the city’s safety net systems to the brink. The influx has prompted major policy changes, including a court filing by city officials on Tuesday that aims to suspend New York’s landmark right-to-shelter rules.
City officials have not been clear about how much the influx of migrants arriving from the southern border has contributed to the city’s burgeoning homeless shelter population, which has skyrocketed since last fall.
Data provided by the city to the Coalition for the Homeless and shared with Gothamist shows fewer than 90 migrants sought shelter from the Department of Homeless Services on Sunday, and fewer than 100 requested shelter on Monday. That’s far less than the rate of roughly 602 migrants arriving daily, reported earlier this week by Jacques Jiha, the mayor’s budget director.
“There’s obviously an influx of people coming to New York City, but there’s also New Yorkers who at the end of…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply