Migrant advocates, supportive elected officials, and non-profit providers – including Women in Need CEO Christine Queen all calling on Mayor Eric Adams to end the controversial policy of limiting migrant families to 60 days of shelter before they are forced to go back through the application process. 

“Trust me, as nice as a win shelter is – it is not the place you want to live with your children in your new country,” said Quinn. 

It’s a process advocates say destabilizes migrant parents like Maria.

She says in the last year and a half, the city transferred her and her kids to four different shelters in four different boroughs, all while she struggled to keep her eight and 14-year-old sons enrolled in their Bronx school where they were first sheltered.  

They are now living – for now – at a family shelter on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. 

“They only gave me for October 14th. I don’t have a job, and I don’t know if they’re going to give me housing again in the shelter. Yes, I am a little worried about my kids’ education.”

Mayor Adams has repeatedly stated over the last year that the shelter limits policy is a necessity and a consequence of the ongoing influx of new migrants, which the city has no power to end. 

Still, the message at the rally was clear:

“Can you imagine the destabilizing effect of a young person in school being evicted from a shelter?” said New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. 

New York Council Member Gayle Brewer added, “If you get moved to Queens, for god’s sake, you cannot go to school in Manhattan. It’s common sense. It’s too long.”

Maria says she is hopeful her sons will be able to continue attending school in the Bronx.

“They interview me every 15 days and tell me that I have to leave on October 14th,” said Maria. 

The boys’ education is, so far, the only semblance of stability this family has known since leaving their home in Guatemala. 
 

Click here to read the full article and watch the segment at Pix11