As word spread of a new city policy that will limit shelter stays to 60 days at a time for adult male migrants, asylum seekers are angry and worried about ending up in the streets.
Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday announced a new city policy that will boot single male migrants from shelters — he says to make way for migrant families and alleviate the stressed, overburdened system.
“Most of us don’t have work,” he said. “I don’t want to sleep on the street. How is this right? I’m alone here. I don’t have a job right now. What if I don’t get a job? And here at 60 days, where am I going to go? Where?”
Migrants have no guarantee of getting a new bed. Adams said that more than 90,000 migrants have arrived since last spring, and that nearly 55,000 are currently in the city’s shelter system. The city shelter system is currently at capacity with more than 100,000 people, according to city estimates.
“If I had known all this was happening, I don’t know if I had to take the risk [of coming to New York],” Sanchez added. “The government is already saying no, they’re not helping us, if we come alone.”
“We also have to cooperate, because if it weren’t for the government, none of us would be here,” Flores, who’s originally from Venezuela, said. “It’s very sensitive, because here they ask for a visa, and we don’t have a visa and passport. I think people who don’t understand them, they’ll want to fight.”