New York City could soon start deploying tents on the streets to house hundreds of migrants.
"Everything is on the table. When it comes down to the migrants, asylum seekers, I cannot elevate the point enough that everything is on the table," said New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The nonstop influx of asylum seekers has strained the city’s shelter system, forcing the city to place time limits on shelter stays.
At least 21,000 vacate notices have been given to migrants in shelters since July, including families with children. The move breaks with a 42-year-old "right to shelter" policy in place in New York, which requires the city to provide shelter to all homeless people.
"My number one goal, no child and no family would sleep on the street. That is my number one goal of preventing that from happening," said Adam.
But immigration advocates fear migrant families could end up on the streets, bearing brutal winter temperatures — like in Chicago where hundreds of migrants have slept in tents outside of the city’s police stations.
Christine Quinn, president and CEO of Win, the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing to homeless families in New York City says there are steps the mayor can take to create capacity in the city’s shelter system.
"Why would we want the city which has had for 40-plus years, this foundation which reflects our morals and our vision — why would we want to take that away?" said Quinn. "He could extend housing vouchers to the undocumented to help them get permanent housing. Two, the mayor could expand the legal work that they are doing to help people get asylum status."
Since April of 2022, more than 125,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City.
Democratic mayors plead with Biden for help addressing migrant crisis
Mayors from Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles and New York are seeking more federal aid to help manage the influx of migrants into their cities.
