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City says fewer migrants being bused from Southern states — but they're still coming
By
Charles Lane
Published Jul 12, 2023
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
Charles Lane
Published Jul 12, 2023
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Fewer migrants are being bused to New York City from Southern states, and more are coming from elsewhere in the country, according to Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom.
“That has slowed down a little bit,” Williams-Isom said in response to a question about buses originating from Southern states during a City Hall briefing on Wednesday. “We think that a lot of the folks that we're getting now are coming from other parts of the United States where other people in other cities are running out of space.”
She added that New York’s status as a sanctuary city and its right-to-shelter policy make it a popular destination: “We have a front door that is open, people are finding themselves here.”
Williams-Isom said the shift away from migrants being bused by Southern states was one of the reasons the city stopped providing buses from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to the migrant intake center at the Roosevelt Hotel nearly a mile across town.
She added that “difficult choices had to be made” and that some days there are no migrant buses coming to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Advocates for migrants say this is nothing new and still fault the city for not helping migrants reach the places where they can get help.
“The buses are an extraordinary situation, but in fact, if you look at where most people are coming to New York from, it was not on the buses,” said Joshua Goldfein, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society. “The city has never made any effort to assist people arriving at the airports, other bus stops or trains.”
City Hall also said it will resume providing data on the number of migrants and breakdowns on where they are staying. According to the latest numbers:
- 103,400 total people are in the care of DSS
- 53,000 are seeking asylum
- 87,200 migrants have come into the system since the spring
- There are currently 186 permanent and temporary shelters
After reviewing the latest data, Goldfein said the city needs to move faster in transitioning people out of the shelter system and into more permanent housing.
“They could clear room in that system by assisting people with identifying the resources that may be available to them and not just placing them and then moving on to the next arriving set of people,” Goldfein said.
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new york city
Politics
Asylum Seekers
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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