NYC announces 60-day limit in city shelters for asylum seekers amid migrant crisis

Mayor Eric Adams announced that, with the purpose of helping move asylum seekers out of the New York City's shelters to provide more space for arriving migrants, the city will now only allow migrants to stay at a shelter for 60 days.

This effort will begin in the coming weeks, starting with asylum seekers who have been in the city’s care for a significant amount of time, the office of the mayor said. Asylum seekers will receive their notice of 60 days and intensified casework services on a rolling basis. However, if an adult asylum seeker does not find alternative housing in that 60-day limit, they will be required to reapply for new placement at the arrival center.

"New York City has done more than any other level of government to address this national crisis, providing shelter, food, services, and much more to more than 90,000 asylum seekers since last spring,” Adams said. “With more than 54,800 asylum seekers still currently in our care, this effort will intensify adult asylum seekers’ casework services over the next two months to help them take the next step on their journey and ensure we have a bed to place children and families at night. For more than a year now, New York City has responded to this crisis alone — we need our state and federal partners to step up.”

The news of the new 60-day shelter rule for asylum seekers has proven controversial.

Public Advocate for the City of New York Jumaane Williams said that although the challenges to the migrant crisis "are immense, so too is our obligation to do all we can for the tired, the poor, the huddled masses" -- a reference to Emma Lasaruz's poem "The New Colossus," which is found on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.

"The right to shelter has been in place for over 30 years, and that right does not simply expire after 60 days in the face of a crisis," Williams said in a statement. "While the challenges of meeting this emergency are immense, so too is our obligation to do all we can for the tired, the poor, the huddled masses. We should be focused on helping create opportunities for people who come here seeking asylum, not preemptively deny that our city is home to opportunity itself. The solutions to this crisis are now in Albany and Washington, DC -- not in restricting or rescinding the rights of our newest New Yorkers in need."

Legal Aid, Coalition for the Homeless also issued a response detailing their opposition to the new rule. Their statement reads in part: “As prescribed by the New York State Constitution, multiple court orders and local laws, both the State and the City have a legal obligation to ensure that people who lack shelter are safe and secure, and protected from exposure to the elements."

Legal aid went on to suggest the implementation of policies to address the need for shelter space.

Among their suggestion are:

• supporting the implementation of the recently approved reforms to rental assistance programs CityFHEPS;
• addressing the understaffing of City offices that process subsidies that allow households to move from shelter to permanent housing;
• expanding rental assistance programs CityFHEPS to more New Yorkers;
• spending funds through the nearly $200 million in New York State’s Rent Supplement Program to move long-stay families residing in New York City Department of Homelessness’ shelters to permanent housing;
• rebuilding the New York City Commission on Human Rights’ Income Discrimination Unit to hold landlords, real estate agents, and brokerage agents accountable for the unlawful denial of housing placements for those with vouchers;
• expanding the City’s shelter capacity by not canceling or delaying planned shelter openings; and
• training shelter providers on how to screen for benefits and employment eligibility.

However, Legal Aid also looks to the federal government as being a part of the solution.

“The Federal Government can and should provide increased funding to the City to meet this moment and grant immediate work authorization for the many new arrivals in desperate need of a job," the statement went on to say.

More than 105,800 people are in city shelters currently -- including more than 54,800 asylum seekers, with over 91,500 asylum seekers having come to the city since being brought by buses from Texas last year. In total, 188 shelters have been opened by the city as a means to address the ongoing migrant crisis.