ImmigrationNYC forms a task force to coordinate accommodation for migrant children

New York City officials have formed a task force to help coordinate accommodation for Central American children who have arrived in the city in recent months after weeks and months of living under the care of immigration and border officials near the Southwest border. Since October 2013, federal officials have sent more than 3,200 children to New York City and elsewhere in the state to live with relatives or guardians, and about 7,000 more are expected to arrive in the coming months, according to officials who have been briefed by federal authorities.

Nisha Agarwal, New York City commissioner for immigrant affairs, said her office was leading the task force, which includes immigrants’ advocates and city and state officials, to decide how to mobilize resources best to accommodate the children. Some community services, schools, and healthcare facilities have already reached capacity limits and are unable to service additional migrant children. “We are keeping a close eye on the developing situation,” Ms. Agarwal said in a statement.

Community-based groups which support services for immigrants met last Thursday in New York City with city, state, and federal officials to discuss how they could “create a collaborative coordinated strategy to meet the varied needs of the children once they arrive here,” said Camille Mackler, director of training and technical assistance at the New York Immigration Coalition, which organized the meeting.

Governing reports that federal authorities have asked New York officials whether they could find additional shelter capacity to house more children detained at the border, but of the seven sites initially considered, only one — a former convent in Syracuse — has been cleared for a second review. The other six locations in or near Albany, Bethpage, Grand Island, Horseheads, Rochester, and West Seneca have been deemed unsuitable. Last Thursday, Syracuse ayor Stephanie A. Miner sent a letter to President Barack Obama inviting the federal government to open a shelter in Syracuse. “As a city with a rich immigrant tradition, we feel strongly these children should be welcomed and protected,” she said. “Toward that end, Syracuse would welcome the opportunity to provide shelter while the larger global issues causing them to leave home for such an arduous journey are resolved.”