As NYC’s Asylum Seeker Arrival Center Closes, What’s Next for Migrants in Shelter?

As of June anyone looking for shelter including newly arrived immigrants should go to the Department of Homeless Services regular intake centers City Limits has learned Outside the Roosevelt Hotel last week which housed the city s Asylum Seeker Arrival Center The scene is in stark contrast to two years ago when expatriates waiting for a shelter bed regularly lined up outside Victoria Moran Garcia City Limits With the closing of the Asylum Seeker Arrival Center at the Roosevelt Hotel this week New York City is not only closing a chapter in its long immigration history but dismantling its two-tier system of separate shelters for displaced persons after more than two years Department of Homeless Services DHS traditional intake centers will serve as the starting point for expatriates seeking shelter in the city City Hall explained As of June migrant families with children under single pregnant individuals and families with a pregnant member should go to the Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing PATH office in the Bronx when looking for a bed Also beginning on that date single men over the age of must register at the th Street Intake Center in Manhattan while single women should go to the HELP Women s Center in Brooklyn function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' While it was published that City Hall would be returning control of all city shelters to DHS winding down its sprawling architecture of Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers HERRCs for immigrants representatives declared they will continue operating a limited number of non-DHS temporary crisis shelters The Roosevelt shelter which has over a thousand rooms had approximately shelter households remaining as of June In addition to the closure of the Arrival Center the hotel will stop operating as a shelter by July administrators explained City Limits Plenty of of those who were staying at the Roosevelt dubbed the new Ellis Island because it was the first stop for tens of thousands of asylum seekers seeking shelter were transferred to one of the last remaining HERCCs at the Row Hotel near Times Square according to advocates and families in shelter The city has moved to close migrant shelter sites since last June as the number of new arrivals continues to decline The Row Hotel is not among those scheduled to shutter this year a spokesperson noted In February when Mayor Eric Adams declared plans to close the Arrival Center he called it a vital milestone in New York City s nearly three-year response to the humanitarian emergency of asylum seekers An MTA shuttle brings newly-arrived immigrants to one of the city s Humanitarian Urgency Response and Relief Centers HERRCs on Randall s Island on Oct The tent shelter complex closed in February among the dozens of migrant shelters the city s closed in up-to-date months Adi Talwar City Limits In the spring of the city opened the site as it received thousands of foreigners arriving by air and land on a weekly basis During its years of operation the hotel went through several political flashpoints The first occurred during the summer of when people vying for a shelter bed slept on the streets during a heat wave Its name was brought up again in the political arena this year when President Donald Trump took back million in federal grants intended to cover services for transients from New York City s coffers In addition to its role as an intake center for migrant families looking for a place to stay the Arrival Center also offered immigration assistance anatomical checkups vaccinations run by NYC Wellbeing Hospitals and a large number of more services Homeless advocates say their chief worry about the site s closure is whether people will still be able to access these support in the wider DHS system Whenever a facility closes whether it is a new arrival facility or otherwise one of our ultimate concerns has inevitably been whether or not the city has adequate threshold to meet the necessities of the people that are being displaced noted Will Watts deputy executive director for advocacy with the Coalition for the Homeless We remain skeptical as to whether or not that s the episode When requested which facility would replace the Arrival Center as the one-stop shop for migrant families the mayor s office stated that DHS will provide scenario management services through its contracted organizations It is obviously crucial for the city to take into account the unique demands of this population noted Kathryn Kliff staff attorney at Legal Aid Society We will certainly be pushing them to ensure DHS staff are receiving training about the kind of unique situation that these clients may be in that maybe the non-new arrival DHS clients don t At the remaining HERRCs the city will have Behavioral Wellness teams to provide mental soundness encouragement emergency intervention and trauma-related response a City Hall spokesperson reported though Watts of Coalition for the Homeless declared this will only be available to families at The Row We continue to be concerned about the lack of situation management real situation management services that folks need in order to be connected to materials as well as legal services Watts noted President Donald Trump s administration has ramped up immigration enforcement in latest months directing agents to detain people showing up to court for routine immigration development hearings and fast-tracking their deportations Multiple don t have lawyers For refugees in shelter City Hall declared it will use the Mayor s Office of Immigrant Affairs connections with community-based legal assistance groups for referrals People can call the MOIA Legal Sponsorship Hotline directly at - - open Monday through Friday between a m and p m for assistance According to the City Limits Homeless Shelter Tracker majority of asylum seekers and asylum seekers were already at DHS-run sites as of April function use strict window addEventListener message function a if void a facts datawrapper-height var e document querySelectorAll iframe for var t in a content datawrapper-height for var r i r e i i if r contentWindow a source var d a figures datawrapper-height t px r style height d A great number of new arrivals are still subject to controversial - and -day shelter deadlines Coalition for the Homeless stated the time limits remain in place for all expatriates who are in non-DHS shelters and for single adult and adult family immigrants in DHS shelters When their time expires however they are no longer required to return to intake centers to seek out more time but can request an extension at their existing shelter and should receive it according to Legal Aid and Coalition for the Homeless Advocates have criticized the shelter deadline procedures as disruptive to asylum seekers lives particularly for families with children who had to move each time the clock on their stays ran out It utterly gets in the way of services that they have access to and let alone if the families have to move to different shelters and the kids have to change schools noted Caroline Schwab a neighborhood organizer with the Open Hearts Initiative an advocacy organization that supports people in shelter It s just really disruptive and makes it so much harder for families to gain stability while they re figuring it out here To reach the reporters behind this story contact Daniel citylimits org and Victoriam Citylimits org To reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint procedures here The post As NYC s Asylum Seeker Arrival Center Closes What s Next for Movers in Shelter appeared first on City Limits