The Midtown Gazette

A Columbia Journalism School newsroom covering Midtown Manhattan in the heart of New York City.


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Revised shelter restrictions bring uncertainty to migrant students

Migrant families wait outside The Stewart Hotel, a relief center. Photo by Amancai Biraben

Every time 8-year-old Luisdianny learns she has just two months in a shelter, a stressed-induced fever and asthma attack engulf her body, sometimes keeping her from school. The episode is routine for the little girl who is living with her family in their fifth shelter in nine months. 

Luisdianny’s parents, Diana and Roger, who asked that their last name not be used pending their immigration status, moved from Venezuela where their monthly salary in housekeeping and sanitation, respectively, came to a combined $20. They are seeking asylum in the United States, as they bounce from shelter to shelter.

For almost a year, there’s been a 60-day limit applied to Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers—shelters that immediately house asylum seekers before they are placed in longer-term ones. But last month, Mayor Eric Adams expanded the 60-day rule to apply to all shelters run by the Department of Homelessness Services (DHS). But the policy will only apply to migrant families with children in those DHS facilities.

Advocates say the mandate will have an adverse effect on migrant children who’ve already experienced so much disruption while adapting to a new country. 

As of September, 19,403 families with children were living in shelters run by the Department of Homeless Services. According to Schwartzwald, DHS’s new policy will more than double the number of families affected, going from 20,000 to 50,000, many being children.

“They’re starting from scratch when it comes to navigating the system,” said Liza Schwartzwald, a policy analyst for New York Immigration Coalition.

Neha Sharman of DHS’s Press Relations & Press Communications denied the policy has any plan for a formal rollout that targets migrants. But advocates like Schwartzwald are still bracing for a change. 

Luisdianny and her family moved into the Roosevelt Hotel, a relief center, right as Luisdianny began second grade in her Washington Heights school in September. Diana said Luisdianny loves her new bilingual school, and can tell her daughter is fond of her teacher and P.E. class. 

“She’s adjusted to school. She’s learned so much,” Diana said. 

But the odds of her staying aren’t great. As multiple agencies like the Department of Education, the Department of Health and the Department of Homelessness Services intertwine to address the complicated nature of immigration policies, families and advocates alike are thrown confusing hurdles on the path to stability. 

Jennifer Pringle, a project director at the nonprofit Advocates for Children, said the majority of newcomer families live in DHS shelters, not relief centers. She is concerned how the new 60-Day limit will affect educational outcomes for migrant children. 

“These types of policies undermine kids’ ability to stay in the same school, to stay stably connected, to regularly go to school every day,” Pringle said. “There’s all this attention on fighting chronic absenteeism, and yet you have a city policy that is setting kids up to be chronically absent.”

In order to stay in the shelter system after 60 days, families must report in person to a shelter intake center where they fill out an application and wait for a response.

But while relief centers tend to house younger families, Schwartzwald says DHS serves older families with children in middle school and high school. She worries that some older students may decide to drop out and begin working, if frequent shelter moves have an impact on transportation to school. 

“That’s the absolute worst outcome for us,” Schwartzwald said. “It’s not good for anyone to have students who can’t figure out how to even get or stay in school once they’ve been enrolled.”

Comptroller Brad Lander’s office recently published an investigation of the city’s shelter limits that showed negative outcomes for migrant students. Some findings revealed that families with elementary school-aged children were specifically denied placement in DHS shelters upon re-intake, subjecting them to more frequent moves, which were detrimental to learning. 

Pringle said schools have tried to offer additional support to numerous migrant families in their communities, from parents organizing supplies and food for families to teachers adjusting lesson plans and credit requirements. But the mayor’s new mandate remains in place.

Currently, City Councilmember Shahana Hanif who represents Brooklyn is pushing a bill to ban DHS’s new 60-day shelter limit, while last month, some protesters demonstrated at City Hall in support of the bill. 

Because the work permit approval process could take months, Diana anticipates several more shelter applications, which means managing Luisdianny’s anxiety.

“She knows we’ll have to move in two months again,” Diana said. “She fixates on it. It’s a process – you have to apply, you have to wait. It’s a long process.”