New York City’s Temporary Migrant Shelter On Randall's Island To Close Down

The temporary migrant shelter built on Randall’s Island in New York City to help house the thousands of asylum seekers and migrants entering the country was announced to be in the process of being closed on Thursday as the influx of migrants from border states has slowed.

The shelter, opened on Oct.19 to house single men from countries like Venezuela who were being bussed from Texas to New York. It will be closed now as a new relief center will be opened at a midtown Manhattan hotel to help house the migrants further, according to the AP News.

The amount of migrants and asylum seekers going to New York has sharply increased after border states like Texas started sending them to the state to alleviate their own increasing migrant crisis. New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency on Oct. 7 over the state’s overwhelmed shelter system, which was reportedly at overcapacity by housing 63,300 people.

“The city is doing the right thing by moving people to a setting where they can have their own space and get settled so they can move on with their lives,” attorney Kathryn Kliff said. “Also, we are glad that this new location will be much more accessible to public transit so clients can access services and easily travel to and from the site.”

The Randall’s Island site, which migrants have praised for the resources available to them while they stayed there, has been criticized by immigrant rights activists and members of the City Council for the inhumane location, as well as being out of the way from businesses and other establishments that would help the migrants assimilate better into American society, the New York Times reported.

“It’s like they developed a model that didn’t take into account all of the experience that the city has for decades for how to provide services to people,” Joseph Goldstein, a staff lawyer for the Legal Aid Society, said.

The increasing number of migrants from countries such as Venezuela has caused the Biden administration to tighten controls on its immigration policies, including expelling incoming new arrivals back to Mexico. The new policies have reportedly helped in easing the immigrant crisis in New York, which is currently helping with the needs of 17,500 asylum seekers.

“We continue to welcome asylum seekers arriving in New York City with compassion and care,” Mayor Adams said. “We will continue to pivot and shift as necessary to deal with this humanitarian crisis, but it’s clear that we still need financial assistance from our state and federal partners.”