A look at how migrant families are being relocated to shelters in NYC's different boroughs

SEATTLE - As the city of New York continues to deal with the high number of migrants and asylum seekers living in its shelters, new data from the mayor's office reveals that about a third of all evicted migrant families who remained in the shelter system after their 60-day limit was up were relocated to other boroughs.

According to data obtained by Gothamist and shared, over half of the 12,560 families who have received eviction notices have since left the city's shelter system, but of the roughly 6,000 families left behind, nearly nine in every 10 of them had to move to another shelter.

Homeless and children advocates argue the long-distance moves for migrants interested in staying in the shelter system has unnecessarily uprooted families, disrupted children's schooling and ultimately made it harder for parents to hold down jobs.

Under Mayor Eric Adams' 60-day stay limit, migrants have been able to live in city shelters for a determined period of time. Although this has helped families leave the shelter system altogether, a lot of them face the danger of not being granted an extension and, in some cases, of being moved to a shelter in a different borough.

In response, the Family Homelessness Coalition, a group of 20 shelter operators and advocates, sent both Mayor Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul a letter on Sept. 9 citing its concerns about the 60-day limits and requested more rental assistance resources for migrants.

"In general, 60 days is not sufficient time for shelter staff to work with families to secure public benefits assistance and find permanent housing," the letter stated. "When families are forced to reapply and relocate, those processes will have to start all over again, to say nothing of the trust that is formed with caseworker staff that is developed over time."

In its non-stop efforts to combat the city's migrant crisis, a program was launched in December of last year to help families move out of the shelter system.

Called Asylee Moveout Assistance, the program paid 150 migrant families up to $4,000 each to help them pay for moving costs. As much as $600,000 was designated to help migrant families and pregnant women who live at 62 emergency Department of Homeless Services shelters around the city.

For several months, New York City's migrant shelter population has hovered around 65,000 people. That is despite a steep decline in the number of new migrants arriving to the city as well as stricter shelter limits for single adults, who only receive 30-day stays.

"Moving families around is just horribly destabilizing for kids' education," said Jennifer Pringle, director of the Learners in Temporary Housing project at the nonprofit Advocates for Children of New York.

A city report published in July 2023 cited research showing that homeless students who transfer schools midyear due to housing instability tend to have worse academic performances than those who do not transfer schools.

Although advocates have raised concerns about how destabilizing this can be for children, data shared with the City Council on July 14 shows that nearly 9 in 10 of the 7,000 migrant students whose families received 60-day eviction notices remained in the same school.

City Hall spokesperson Liz Garcia said that shelter staffers aim to keep migrant families in the borough where their youngest child attends school to avoid disrupting their education. If that is not possible, public school staffers work to connect families with the appropriate transportation, Garcia said.