NY to spend $25M in state funds to rent homes for thousands of asylum seekers

Chris McKenna, New York State Team
·3 min read
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New York plans to use $25 million in state funds to rent temporary homes for up to 1,250 asylum-seeking families who opt to leave New York City's crowded shelters.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers approved funding for voluntary relocations in the state budget adopted in May. It was part of a $1 billion allocation for housing and services for tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have been bused to New York City from the southern border over the last year.

So far, 17 families have volunteered to move into state-rented homes, Gov. Hochul's office announced Saturday. State officials told the USA Today Network on Monday that the program will cover rent for up to a year while helping families with school enrollment, health care and other needs to settle into their new communities. The total funding amounts to $20,000 per family if 1,250 families indeed volunteer.

A young boy was among the families of asylum seekers led into the Ramada hotel in Yonkers onkers May 15, 2023. The families were being housed in New York City.
A young boy was among the families of asylum seekers led into the Ramada hotel in Yonkers onkers May 15, 2023. The families were being housed in New York City.

Families must have applied to the federal government for asylum and work permits to qualify for the state relocation program, which is separate from New York City's transfers of migrants in its care. Federal law requires asylum seekers to wait six months to be eligible for work permits.

New York City have so far referred 275 families to state officials for the state program after helping them submit their asylum applications, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement on Monday.

The statement said the city was grateful for the new state effort after being "left to tackle a national humanitarian crisis largely on its own" since spring of last year. About 100,000 migrants have been bused to New York in that time, forcing the city to open about 200 emergency shelters.

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The relocation program would shift to the state a sliver of the city's mounting costs. Since May, the city has sought to free shelter space for new arrivals by placing some of its asylum seekers in upstate hotels and paying for their lodging, food and other expenses. As of Monday, it had sent at least 2,189 migrants to seven counties, according to USA Today Network reporting and published accounts.

New York City has so far placed asylum seekers in Albany, Dutchess, Erie, Monroe, Orange, Schenectady and Westchester Counties.

mayor
mayor

Erie stops asylum seeker placements after alleged sex crimes

On Saturday, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced that Adams had agreed to his demand to suspend placements in Erie after a second alleged sex crime by an asylum seeker inside a hotel this month. About 540 migrants are being housed in three hotels in the town of Cheektowaga, outside Buffalo.

Police charged a 22-year-old refugee from the Democratic Republican of Congo on Friday with sex abuse and unlawful imprisonment of a worker, the Buffalo News reported. Previously, a 26-year-old Venezuelan migrant was charged with rape for allegedly assaulting a woman he knew in the hotel.

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"Two serious, violent crimes in two weeks are two too many," Poloncarz said in a statement. "Our refugee agencies did their best to provide support and assistance, but our community's trust and good faith have been betrayed."

Hochul announced over the weekend that the state will send National Guard members to the three Erie County hotels. The state already has deployed about 1,800 Guard members to staff New York City hotels that are serving as shelters.

Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks in Buffalo on July 28, 2023.
Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks in Buffalo on July 28, 2023.

New housing for asylum seekers opening in NYC

The state also plans to begin operating two new sites of its own in New York City to house asylum seekers. One is on Randall's Island, and the other is at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens, which is expected to open next week with space for up to 1,000 asylum seekers.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY asylum seeker families to leave shelters, rent homes under plan