- Title: New York City to open emergency centers to house migrants bused by Texas
- Date: 27th September 2022
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 27, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CONSTRUCTION WORKERS BUILDING EMERGENCY MIGRANT CENTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOANNE MENNONA, AREA RESIDENT, SAYING: "I am concerned because I come to the beach on the weekends with my dog and I come at 7:00 in the morning. And from what I understand, this is going to be all single people and it's g
- Embargoed: 11th October 2022 19:46
- Keywords: Bronx Migrants bussing housing immigrants tents
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA007834127092022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended his plan to temporarily house migrants arriving from Texas in climate-controlled tents on Tuesday (September 27), saying "this is not inhumane. This is New Yorkers stepping up."
Last week New York City announced it will open two emergency centers to house migrants arriving on buses sent by the Republican governor of Texas in a political dispute over border security, Mayor Eric Adams said on Thursday.
On Tuesday work was underway in a large parking lot in Orchard Beach Park in the Bronx to put together the giant structures.
"We looked at 50 locations and found the best location. We are going to open more sites. And this is not long-term. You know, let's be clear. This is not something that's going to be done long-term. This is not a shelter issue," said Adams.
The centers will provide shelter, food, and medical care while working to connect migrants with family and friends inside and outside New York City, according to the mayor's office.
Adams stressed that the center in the Bronx is for single adults only, and will only provide temporary shelter and processing.
"So we want to make sure that we bring people into a safe, clean environment as we process them for a few days to figure out their needs and move them to the right location," said Adams.
The centers for single adults will be climate-controlled tents with rows of cots akin to those used after natural disasters, the mayor's office said.
The emergency relief centers are part of efforts by Democratic mayors to deal with thousands of migrants being bused from the Republican-led border states of Texas and Arizona. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican seeking reelection in November, has bused more than 11,000 migrants to Washington, D.C., New York City, and Chicago since April.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last week flew about 50 migrants from Texas to Massachusetts. (Full Story)
The governors, who oppose the more lenient border policies of U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, say they want to shift the burden to Democratic areas and have focused on the issue in the run-up to the November midterm elections.
New York is bound by a decades-old consent decree in a class-action lawsuit to provide shelter for the homeless.
The Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless said in a joint statement that they were "deeply concerned" that families with children could be placed in congregate settings, but were willing to work with the city.
The facility at Orchard Beach Park is located on the coast and in a flood zone. At the press conference on Tuesday, the city was asked if it was wise to build the shelter there with the possible arrival of the remnants of Hurricane Ian arriving over the coming weekend.
"Should a coastal storm come, we would evacuate people, as we would any other zone. In zone one, we have to evacuate about 500,000 people. So they would go into the shelter system, the storm shelter system, just like anybody else who is evacuating a neighborhood," said Zachary Iscol, Commissioner of NYC Emergency Management.
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