(Glenn Kalinoski, Headline USA) New York City is imposing a curfew for migrants at four locations following crime at shelters including drug dealing and a deadly stabbing this month.
The New York Post reported the penalty for those who disobey the new rule: Three violations within 30 days will result in expulsion.
The curfew begins Tuesday night at two centers in Queens and locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Check-in will take place at 11 p.m., and migrants must stay at the centers until 6 a.m.
The new policy is in line with curfews at homeless shelters throughout New York City. Residents have said that migrants have been panhandling at their homes, asking for clothing and food.
The Post reported that the curfew was instituted following complaints from city residents living near migrant shelters and centers. They have complained about an “invasion of migrants knocking on their doors and begging for money at all hours of the day and night.”
Brooklyn residents told The Post at the end of 2023 that having “desperate migrants in their neighborhood was alarming and had left many residents on edge.”
ABC-7 reported that the curfew will impact 1,900 migrants.
The four “respite centers” house migrants waiting for housing at longer-term shelters and tent cities.
There will be exceptions to the curfew. They include work and school, as well as legal and medical appointments. City Hall officials noted that migrants must apply for permits in advance that would allow them to avoid the curfew.
Mayor Eric Adams has failed to secure financial assistance from the Biden administration to deal with the thousands of migrants who have traveled to New York City. To pay for feeding and housing the migrants, Adams has told city residents to expect cutbacks in essential services such as police, fire and sanitation.
“This is only the first step,” said New York City Councilwoman Joann Ariola, R-Queens, according to the Post.
“We still need to end our status as a right-to-shelter city, stop the flow of asylum-seekers into the [city] and finally get rid of the tent cities … that are draining our city’s coffers and gobbling up billions of taxpayer dollars,” she added.
