August 2, 2024 The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless released the following statement in response to Mayor Eric Adams’ temporary displacement, and search and seizure of roughly 3,000 new arrivals currently residing at Randall’s Island: “Temporarily displacing and conducting a police raid on 3,000 new arrivals despite today’s heat advisory not only raises serious constitutional questions, but is draconian and fuels dangerous xenophobic sentiment. These actions just further compound the trauma our clients and other shelter residents have already endured both during their journeys to New York and in their home countries because of their sexual and gender identities, political affiliations, and otherwise.” “For months, NYPD brass has falsely warned of a ‘migrant crime wave’ sweeping New York City, but the data does not support this rhetoric. This maneuver, cynically, is just another ploy to appease certain vocal opponents of shelters for new arrivals, reduce the shelter census, and appear ‘tough on crime.’” “Furthermore, this move will create a climate of suspicion between new arrivals and City staff in all shelters for new arrivals, impairing these workers’ ability to care for the people in their charge, chilling new arrivals in their efforts to seek assistance, and recklessly fomenting the false perception among many in the general public that new arrivals are all ‘criminals’, compromising the safety of our clients. Treating people who have come here seeking asylum and safety like they are threats is incomprehensible in what is supposed to be a sanctuary city.”
