New York School Buses Not Picking Up Migrant Children Angers Council Member

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is being criticized by some city council members over his 60-day migrant eviction policy, as new data shows the policy has had negative effects on public school students.

The policy, which went into effect in January, now affects 8,233 families with children, and data released by the New York City Council shows that since March 3, 51 percent of those families continue to remain in city-sponsored shelters—including 14 percent who remain in the same shelter where their 60-day notice was issued, while 81 percent have moved to a different shelter within their same borough.

The data has sparked concerns among council members, as it shows that almost one in five migrant children leave their shelter mid-school year. There are about 5,700 New York City students among those 8,000-plus families, and about 18 percent of them—678 children of a total 1,026 students—are no longer enrolled in a New York City public school. Another 302 children have transferred to a different school.

“Families are not given MetroCards,” Council Member Gale Brewer, who represents the 6th District, said in a statement. “The school buses, with all due respect, just don’t show up. They don’t show up for New York kids and they’re not going to show up wherever you’re moving these families.”

“Schools are stabilizing and supportive for children and their parents. Stability and support are exactly what these families need, not eviction notices,” she continued.

Newsweek has contacted Brewer for further comment via email.

Brewer added that her office had overseen dozens of cases in which families were moved from her Upper West Side district to shelters in Queens and Brooklyn despite their enrollment in District 3 schools.

A City Hall spokesperson told Newsweek via email: “We are proud to have helped more than 60 percent of these migrants take the next steps in their journeys, and that no families with children have been forced to sleep on the streets. Our 30- and 60-day notices are one tool in our very limited toolbox to help migrants move on because, as we have repeatedly said, New York City is long past its breaking point.

“We are simply out of space and resources to continue to shelter tens of thousands of migrants indefinitely as hundreds more continue to enter our care every single day. As notices expire for families with children, we continue to do everything in our power to minimize impacts as they take the next steps—especially for children already enrolled in our schools—and provide opportunities to re-apply for shelter if needed.”

The mayor’s office said assumptions made by council members on the migrant student data are generally unfounded, considering that most children whose families who have seen notices expire remain enrolled in school.

The office also said it was unfair to assume that members had spoken directly with all the affected families.

“It’s disheartening to see the impact of eviction notices rippling through our communities,” Council Member Rita Joseph, the chair of the council’s Education Committee, said in a statement.

“Over a thousand children have had their education disrupted because of the cruel 60-day eviction rule for families in shelter,” Council Member Diana Ayala, the council deputy speaker and chair of the Committee on General Welfare, said in a statement. “This is a blow to the long-term development and success of each child that has their schooling interrupted.”

“While it is commendable that the re-application for shelter process is taking less than one day, 2 out of 3 children that have been evicted and no longer remain in the same school have not re-enrolled in a new school,” she continued.

The eviction policy has affected migrants from Mauritania and Senegal most negatively, according to an analysis published by New York Focus in February. Migrants from the two African countries received 44 percent and 32 percent, respectively, of about 14,000 notices—the highest and second-highest share—though migrants from those countries represent smaller shares of migrants in New York City compared to those from Venezuela, Ecuador or Colombia.