Current:Home > BackNew York City moves to suspend ‘right to shelter’ as migrant influx continues-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
New York City moves to suspend ‘right to shelter’ as migrant influx continues
View Date:2024-12-24 20:56:45
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York City is challenging a unique legal agreement that requires it to provide emergency housing to anyone who asks for it, as the city’s shelter system strains under a large influx of international migrants who have arrived since last year.
The city filed a request late Tuesday asking a court to allow it to suspend the requirement when there is a state of emergency where the shelter population of single adults increases at a rapid rate.
The filing came as Mayor Eric Adams embarks on a four-day trip through Latin America, starting Wednesday in Mexico, where he said he will discourage people from coming to New York, telling them the city’s shelter system is at capacity and its resources are overwhelmed.
The city has been moving to suspend the so called right to shelter for months under the surge of migrants, arguing the requirement was never intended to be applied to a humanitarian crisis such as the latest influx.
The shelter requirement has been in place for more than four decades in New York City, following a legal agreement struck in 1981 that required the city to provide temporary housing for every homeless person. No other big city in America has such a requirement.
“With more than 122,700 asylum seekers having come through our intake system since the spring of 2022, and projected costs of over $12 billion for three years, it is abundantly clear that the status quo cannot continue,” Adams, a Democrat, said in a statement. “New York City cannot continue to do this alone.”
Adams had heralded the shelter requirement at the start of the crisis as a display of the city’s empathy toward asylum seekers. In the months since, his rhetoric has hardened as the city has spent more than a billion dollars to rent space in hotels, erect large emergency shelters and provide government services for migrants who arrive without housing or jobs.
“This issue will destroy New York City,” Adams said last month.
The mayor has also recently tightened New York shelter rules by limiting adult migrants to just 30 days in city-run facilities amid overcrowding.
Josh Goldfein, a staff attorney at The Legal Aid Society, said the city’s request, if successful, would be disastrous for the city.
“What is the alternative? If we do not have a right to shelter, if we are turning people away from the shelter system, if people are now living in the streets, in the subways, in the parks, is that the outcome that they want?” he said. “That is something we have not seen in decades. I don’t think any New Yorker wants to see that. I don’t think city officials want to see that but that will be the result if they were to prevail here.”
veryGood! (578)
Related
- Georgia lawmaker proposes new gun safety policies after school shooting
- French actor Gerard Depardieu is under scrutiny over sexual remarks and gestures in new documentary
- Ashlyn Harris Steps Out With Sophia Bush at Art Basel Amid Ali Krieger Divorce
- Read the full Hunter Biden indictment for details on the latest charges against him
- 'Joker 2' actor pans DC sequel as the 'worst film' ever: 'It has no plot'
- Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott reveals the groups that got some of her $2.1 billion in gifts in 2023
- How a top economic adviser to Biden is thinking about inflation and the job market
- Virginia woman wins $777,777 from scratch-off but says 'I was calm'
- New Jersey will issue a drought warning after driest October ever and as wildfires rage
- Olivia Rodrigo Reveals How She Got Caught “Stalking” Her Ex on Instagram
Ranking
- John Krasinski Details Moment He Knew Wife Emily Blunt Was “the One”
- Polish truck drivers are blocking the border with Ukraine. It’s hurting on the battlefield
- Lawmakers seek action against Elf Bar and other fruity e-cigarettes imported from China
- Europe reaches a deal on the world’s first comprehensive AI rules
- Mike Tyson is expected to honor late daughter during Jake Paul fight. Here's how.
- Two men in Alabama riverfront brawl plead guilty to harassment; assault charges dropped
- Fatal shooting by police in north Mississippi is under state investigation
- Arkansas man sentenced to 5 1/2 years for firebombing police cars during 2020 protests
Recommendation
-
The Bachelorette's Desiree Hartsock Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 3 With Chris Siegfried
-
US Sen. Kevin Cramer’s son makes court appearance after crash that killed North Dakota deputy
-
Read the full Hunter Biden indictment for details on the latest charges against him
-
Local New Hampshire newspaper publisher found guilty of political advertisement omissions
-
What is prize money for NBA Cup in-season tournament? Players get boost in 2024
-
Use these tech tips to preserve memories (old and new) this holiday season
-
Every college football conference's biggest surprises and disappointments in 2023
-
Wisconsin university system reaches deal with Republicans that would scale back diversity positions