Immigration and housing advocates are urging Mayor Eric Adams to expedite the closure of high-profile migrant shelters ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Concerns have been raised that immigration officials may raid or stake out these sites to round up noncitizens under Trump’s mass deportation plan. A tent camp at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn and over 200 other emergency migrant shelters are of particular concern.
Mayor Adams’ administration has already closed 11 migrant shelters and plans to shutter 10 more by the end of the month. However, plans to shutter the Floyd Bennett Field site have not been finalized. The advocates fear that shutting down high-profile sites might draw special attention and make migrants vulnerable.
With fewer migrants arriving in the city, the number of shelters is being reduced. Advocates are also pushing for the integration of migrant shelters with the traditional shelter system to prevent them from being targeted by ICE agents. The city’s sanctuary laws prohibit the use of city resources for immigration enforcement, but there have been calls from Republican lawmakers to repeal these laws.
Advocates are also calling for shelter staff to be trained on the rules around cooperating with immigration officers. The goal is to prevent shelters from potentially being used as immigrant detention facilities in the future. As the city works to phase out emergency migrant shelters, concerns remain about having enough capacity to accommodate all migrants in the traditional shelter system.
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