As per a recent report by the Associated Press, authorities in New York City are considering utilizing a federal prison to address the pressing challenge posed by an influx of migrants, which has strained existing homeless shelters. The report highlights that the potential facility for accommodating these migrants is the very same federal jail where the infamous financier Jeffrey Epstein took his own life. Additionally, this facility has been used to detain various individuals involved in organized crime and acts of terrorism.
The proposition was formally put forth in a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul’s office dated August 9. Over 100,000 migrants who have arrived in the so-called Big Apple since 2022 after crossing the American border are having difficulty being accommodated.
As one of the few sanctuary cities in the nation, New York City is required by law to offer shelter to anybody in need. Since homeless shelters are at capacity, New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has chosen to take over hotels and even place cots in school gyms and leisure facilities to house the migrants.
A senior attorney for the Big Apple’s legal division penned the letter dated August 9 and mentions a few additional locations where the refugees might be lodged. One of these was the Metropolitan Correctional Center, which was shut down by authorities in 2021 after lawyers expressed their dissatisfaction with its circumstances.
The letter didn’t make it clear whether representatives of New York City had formally contacted the US Federal Bureau of Prisons about using this jail as a migrant housing facility. The organization stated in a statement that the only comment it could make was that the jail in question had been temporarily closed and that long-term plans for this facility were still being worked out.
Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, criticized Adams for proposing to house migrants in this jail. While the mayor likes to claim that he will do whatever it takes to lodge asylum seekers, he indicated in a statement that some locations should be off-limits.
