Shelter evictions will harm migrant children, schools warn

Since last summer, tens of thousands of immigrant families living in homeless shelters have enrolled children in New York City schools. Their arrival buoyed the system, which had been losing students, prompting the mayor to declare that “public schools are back.”

But now the city is forcing many of these families to reapply for shelter beds, threatening what educators say is a hard-won and fragile stability for migrant children, many of whom have endured turmoil and trauma on their journey to America.

About 3,500 migrant families have received deportation orders that will take effect in early January. If they have lived there for more than 60 days, they must vacate their accommodation and apply for a new placement. It is still unclear whether they will immediately receive beds and whether the new shelters will be in the same neighborhoods.

The orders come as the influx from the southern border continues unabated and Mayor Eric Adams has tried to push people to leave the strained homeless shelter system more quickly.

But more than two dozen principals, educators, parents and advocates said in interviews that the policy could lead to the biggest disruption since schools closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With deportation orders taking effect next month, migrant families will be faced with a difficult choice: stay at the same school, which could mean a long journey if they are placed in a remote shelter, or transfer to a new school and go from there to start. scratch.

Either way, the upheaval will likely be painful for both students and schools, educators and experts say.

Homeless families have the federal right to keep their children enrolled in the same school if they move, in part because mid-year transfers can be devastating for students, disrupting academic progress and relationships with teachers and friends.

But teachers fear absenteeism could increase even among families who choose to stay in the same school if they are placed in remote shelters and children have to make long trips to class.

For schools, a mass relocation of families into shelters could create a revolving door of newcomers, administrators said, making it harder for teachers to meet students’ needs and complicating school budgets.

On Thursday, elected officials — including the city comptroller, public advocate and a third of City Council members — demanded a reversal of the policy in a letter to Mr. Adams.

“I can’t stop thinking about the trauma this is going to cause,” said Rosa Diaz, a parent leader whose East Harlem district has hosted thousands of immigrant students.

A court order requires the city to provide a bed to any homeless person who requests one, and Mayor Adams has repeatedly warned that New York cannot cover the costs of housing and caring for migrants.

More than 157,000 migrants have arrived since last year, and more than 67,000 are now in shelters. Officials say the 60-day deadlines are intended to free up space. In September, the city imposed a 30-day limit on single migrants’ stays, and most did not apply for relocation when their time was up.

But in recent weeks, dozens of adults reenrolling have been sleeping on sidewalks in frigid conditions as they waited for beds. Critics of the 60-day plan have raised the specter of similar scenes playing out for families with young children this winter.

Mr Adams has said he hopes to prevent families from sleeping on the streets.

“If they say you shouldn’t follow the 60-day rule, give me an alternative. Because we were open to ideas,” he said this week.

The 60-day arrangement does not yet apply to families living in many shelters in the city requires state waivers distribute eviction notices. But starting next month, families living in various emergency shelters are expected to pack up and leave to reapply for housing at the Roosevelt Hotel intake center in Midtown.

The school system is split into 32 local districts, and officials have said they will try to place families in or near their youngest child’s district.

The new care plan is causing a chaotic battle in parts of the school system. At a Brooklyn school, teachers hugged some of their students during winter break, unsure whether they would return in the new year. In Queens, a principal worried that children who had finally begun to trust school staff would find themselves in turmoil again.

At Brooklyn RISE, a charter school in central Brooklyn, teachers welcomed more than 30 migrant children this fall. The students have become “part of the community,” said Cary Finnegan, the school’s founder.

Initially, they greeted their teachers every day with “buenos dias!” Lately it’s been “good morning,” employees said. As families began receiving eviction notices, school administrators and social workers called one city official after another, trying to figure out what might happen.

“I can’t think of a worse time to do this,” Ms Finnegan said.

Amaris Cockfield, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said in a statement that the government has warned that “without additional help, this crisis could play out on the city streets.” “We have been national leaders, but simply put, we are out of good options,” Ms Cockfield said.

Outside the Row NYC hotel this week, several migrant parents said they and their children were sleeping. Most had received little to no information about what to do if they reached the 60-day limit.

One father, Jose Gregorio Leal, 35, had observed his family’s announcement to his wife, who has a heart condition. One mother, Luz Rodriguez, 35, said she saw shelter staff throwing migrants’ belongings into black trash bags and taking them outside. She fears the same thing could happen to her family.

Some migrant families have left the shelter system in recent weeks and also moved into apartments. Others have moved to different states, school leaders said. Many migrants described their disillusionment after arriving in New York with great hope for their lives.

“Imagine that, 60 days in one location and 60 days in another,” said Luisa Castillo, 47, whose two public schoolchildren are “really worried” about the disruption. “They will never learn.”

Some families have been exploited as they tried to navigate the city’s complex housing market. Gina Cirrito, a parent at Public School 87 on the Upper West Side, which enrolls about 30 immigrant students, said a family at the school was frantically trying to get an apartment after being given a 60-day notice.

“They were cheated out of every penny they saved,” Ms. Cirrito said.

Her son and one of his migrant classmates have built a friendship and bonded over soccer games despite their language barrier. “That’s all going to be ruined,” she said.

Across New York, more than 33,000 new homeless students — most of whom are immigrants — have enrolled in schools since last year. The system relies heavily on school principals, parents and community groups to coordinate support.

Many schools are still assessing children’s performance, identifying gaps in education and identifying signs of possible disabilities. But teachers fear these efforts will be undone and they will have to start over as students move and new students arrive.

“If you think data is being shared between schools in the middle of the year, that’s not happening,” said Michael Mulgrew, president of the teachers union.

He was scathing about the city’s plan. “It’s terrible, it’s nonsense and inhumane,” he said.

Students who remain at their current school may also encounter new obstacles.

Shahana Hanif, a city council member for parts of central Brooklyn, said students in her district have “missed school for weeks” after previous moves that were unrelated to the shelter-in-place limit. One family recently moved to a shelter in Jamaica, Queens. Their child’s school is in Park Slope, Brooklyn, she said, more than 70 minutes away. Ms Hanif is concerned that migrant children will soon face similar displacements.

Homeless students are entitled to school buses, but the city’s yellow bus system has traditionally been plagued by delays and is currently short of several hundred drivers.

At Central Park East II in upper Manhattan, some of the school’s five dozen migrant children have recently struggled to concentrate in their classes, said Jeanette Frazier, who works for the nonprofit Children’s Aid, which helps support students at the school .

She said a girl, concerned about her family’s deportation, told her last week, “This is not an American dream.” This is a nightmare.”

Susan C. Beachy research contributed.