The city began notifying adult migrants in July that they would soon have to reapply in order to stay in shelters. For some who have reached the deadline, the future remains uncertain.
City officials describe the Roosevelt Hotel, the city’s main intake center for homeless migrants, as the “new Ellis Island.” But local political leaders are also hoping to restrict who comes.
After New York City’s mayor begged for help from the federal government, Congressional Democrats, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, came to visit the city’s main migrant shelter.
Migrants were sleeping in the streets because there was no more space, the city said. Within days, it had found beds, and critics argued there had been room all along.