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NY state set to end resettlement program for migrant families in city shelters
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Apr 18, 2025
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Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Apr 18, 2025
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A New York state-run resettlement program for migrants — criticized for its slow pace in placing families — is coming to an end, after relocating roughly half of the families it was set up to help.
New York's Migrant Relocation Assistance Program (MRAP), launched in July 2023 amid a surge in migrant arrivals to New York City, will cease relocating new families on June 15, according to Anthony Farmer, a spokesperson for the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, which runs the program.
Those already relocated will continue to receive help for up to a year after their initial move into their own housing, Farmer said.
The program helps migrant families in city shelters relocate to permanent housing outside the five boroughs. It offers up to one year of rental assistance and extra social services. The program was designed to chip away at a growing migrant population clustered in shelters throughout the city. That population currently stands at about 43,000, down from a peak of 69,000 in January 2024.
Farmer said the program is ending because fewer migrants are arriving in New York City and seeking shelter. The change also comes as the Trump administration has cracked down on immigration and sought to cut and even claw back federal funds to jurisdictions aiding immigrants.
The program was originally allocated $25 million to relocate 1,250 migrant families to Suffolk, Westchester, Albany, Monroe and Erie counties. Although that budget was later increased to $32.5 million, just 640 families have been relocated. Of those, 267 families have reached “self-sufficiency,” meaning they no longer receive assistance from MRAP, Farmer said.
“Many of the families that were relocated have already been authorized to work, found employment and achieved self-sufficiency, no longer requiring assistance from the program,” Farmer said in a statement.
Advocates for homeless people criticized the slow pace of relocations. At the end of January last year, fewer than 170 families had been relocated through the initiative. Nonprofit providers contracted to implement the program blamed a lack of housing options.
There have long been far more referrals to the program than available accommodations, according to data obtained through a Freedom of Information request. In early January last year, just 80 units were available for the 443 families referred to the program, according to state data.
The nonprofit groups said aid workers became more efficient at finding housing over time, as the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance provided more funding for rental assistance.
Carola Otero Bracco, the director of Neighbors Link, which runs the MRAP program in Westchester County, called the effort “innovative” in its approach. She said her organization had stopped placing families through MRAP earlier this year.
“It’s helping families find housing, as families were working hard to get their work permits and find jobs and do all that,” Otero Bracco said. “I think it's just a very smart way of helping families stabilize their lives.”
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new york state
new york city
Asylum Seekers
housing
Race And Justice Unit
Arya Sundaram
Arya is a reporter covering race and justice. Got a tip? Email: [email protected] or reach Arya on Signal at 512-650-8767.
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