NYC preps for influx of asylum seekers
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The City Council grilled city leadership on their long term plans to accommodate asylum seekers ahead of a potential influx, resulting from the expiration of a national law that allowed officials to turn away asylum seekers at the border. Photo by Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit
By Rachel Vick
New York City is preparing for a potential influx of asylum seekers ahead of the expiration of Title 42, a Trump-era law allowing asylum seekers to be turned away due to the risk of communicable diseases like COVID-19.
The City Council Committee of the Whole — a full body meeting that occurs in emergencies — met on Monday ahead of the law’s expiration to assess the city’s response to the migrant crisis that began earlier this year when Republican governors from southern states began sending recently-arrived migrants to New York by bus.
“Real human lives are at stake here,” said City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.
“This is not a game and New York City takes its responsibility to help those in our city very, very seriously,” the speaker added. “As a sanctuary city we welcome our recent arrivals with open arms and we will utilize every tool at our disposal to ensure that they can build safe, dignified and abundant lives.”
She, and the body, emphasized a need to prioritize long-term planning and to “creatively form policy solutions that will allow people to succeed” as newly-arrived migrants continue to seek shelter.
In addition to underscoring the needs for outside funding, the pressing needs councilmembers were hoping to shed light on included facilitating access to legal assistance while migrants’ asylum applications are pending, trauma-informed mental health services and adequate shelter with culturally-competent resources.
On Sunday, there were two buses of asylum seekers and on Monday there were at least four, according to Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Zachary Iscol. The agency, he said, is keeping “everything on the table” when looking at ways to house incoming asylum seekers.
Among the council’s concerns were the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers, operating as emergency shelters, including the now-shuttered men’s tent facility on Randalls Island.
It served about 500 people in the three and a half weeks it was open, according to the city officials. Both Iscol and Mayor Eric Adams suggested that should the city’s struggles to house migrants worsen, the short-lived tent facility could be put back in operation.
Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala echoed advocates' criticism of the HERCs as “shadow shelters” potentially skirting right to shelter laws, and expressed concerns about the city’s capacity to safely meet the needs of those newly arriving, a characterization which Iscol rejected.
On Feb. 11, 2022, the city’s shelter census was at its lowest point in 2022 with 45,054 individuals. It reached its highest point on Dec. 11, 2022, with 64,649 individuals, according to a report from the Committee.
Despite concern from the Council about meeting the mental health needs of asylum seekers in DHS shelters following the suicide of a migrant in a Queens shelter last week, representatives from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Health + Hospitals emphasized their continued commitment to serving the population.
Their three priorities, according to Commissioner Ashwin Vasan, are to register individuals with health insurance — either Medicaid or NYCCares, a low- to no-cost citywide health insurance program — connect them with a general practitioner to address broader healthcare needs and provide on-site mental health crisis response.
Queens Councilmember Joann Ariola urged the city agencies to examine the reach of services into the shelters located in the outer boroughs, particularly vaccination efforts geared toward children.
“How long can our system withstand this pressure both financially with our services, medically, for housing,” Ariola asked. “How long can our system withstand this pressure without help from the federal and our state government?”
The DC Circuit US Court of Appeals recently rejected a request from 19 states to delay the end of the law, which was set to expire Wednesday, and is now likely to be heard in the Supreme Court.
Mayor Adams reiterated the funding request Sunday, asking for $1 billion in federal aid as cities and states along the Mexican border continued to send asylum seekers into the city, with thousands more expected.
As the need for a plan remains apparent, the Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships is repeating a request to faith based organizations who can host asylum seekers to do so.
“Truth be told, if corrective measures are not taken soon, we may very well be forced to cut or curtail programs New Yorkers rely on, and the pathway to house thousands more is uncertain,” he said. “These are not choices we want to make, but they may become necessary, and I refuse to be forced to choose new arrivals over current New Yorkers… we need a plan, we need assistance, and we need it now.”
The Council will continue its hearing on the crisis on Tuesday. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
