NYC’s ‘right to shelter’ policy tested amid migrant influx
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 25: Migrants who crossed the border from Mexico into Texas exit a bus as it arrives into the Port Authority bus station in Manhattan on August 25, 2022 in New York City. Numerous buses from Texas filled with migrants have been arriving into New York City every few days since early August as Texas Governor Greg Abbott continues to be at odds with New York City Eric Adams about border policies. The hundreds of migrants have been welcomed into the city and given temporary shelter as authorities try to find more permanent arrangements. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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(NewsNation) — New York City is utilizing federal assistance to handle migrants transported to the city from the southern border, as the city’s law offering shelter to all who seek it is put to the test.
NewsNation affiliate PIX11 in New York City reports FEMA is offering assistance to help house the 11,000 migrants in the city, most of which were sent to the city by the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The city of New York is sheltering approximately 8,000 migrants.
“We need help. We have not been ashamed to say that,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams told the New York Times. “We need help, and all those who think we’re not getting it right, they should come and show us how to get it right because we believe we are getting it right.”
The influx has tested the city’s “right to shelter” law, which offers access to a shelter to anyone requesting it.
On Monday, the city was unable to offer beds to 60 migrants, the first major blunder in the city’s system in more than a decade, according to the Times.
Adams reportedly signaled the policies surrounding the “right to shelter” law may change, as the migrant bus situation has compounded an already overwhelmed homeless shelter system.
The mayor’s chief counsel Brendan McGuire told the Times when the law was conceived, no one was “contemplating that there were going to be over 10,000 individuals bused into New York with no connection to New York from overseas.”
The city has opened 23 emergency shelters to help meet obligations set by the law.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said regional FEMA administrators are offering support to local efforts in New York City, and elsewhere, according to PIX11.
“Funding is also available through FEMA’s emergency food and shelter program to eligible local governments and not-for-profit organizations upon request,” she said. “We will continue to do what we can to support these cities as we rebuild our asylum system.”
One of the nonprofits greeting the migrants as they exit the buses told the New York Post that all were welcome in the city, but the influx of people isn’t without its challenges.
“We know we have a huge homeless problem here in New York City as it is. Hopefully, this will shine a light on an already broken shelter system,” Power Maul of Artists Athletes Activists told the Post.
