NY Times: Migrants Protest Move From Midtown Hotel to Barracks-Style Shelter

January 30, 2023
1:57 pm

NYLAG’s Deborah Berkman, supervising attorney in our Shelter Advocacy Initiative, spoke to the New York Times about the immense barriers recent asylum-seekers face in finding housing in New York City.

“Even for people who do find some work, renting an apartment may be out of reach. Deborah Berkman, supervising attorney of the Shelter Advocacy Initiative at the New York Legal Assistance Group, has worked with over 50 migrants who arrived from the southern border. Many migrants are not eligible for government rental assistance because of their legal status, she said.

“And as New Yorkers know, renting on the open market can be difficult even for people with ample documentation of a steady income.

“‘Without money or a housing voucher, it’s too expensive to get a place to live in New York,’ she said.”

Read the full piece by Karen Zraick for the New York Times from January 30, 2023.

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