NYC opening 2 emergency centers for arriving migrants
NEW YORK -- The city announced new steps Thursday as more migrants arrived in the Big Apple.
CBS2's Alice Gainer has details on plans for humanitarian centers and why some are concerned.
Several more buses of asylum seekers arrived at the Port Authority Bus Terminal from Texas. Volunteers with bags of donated clothing have been helping coordinate next steps for weeks.
"We greet them, we give them hand sanitizer, masks. We feed them. We give them water. We get them medical care if they need it, and then we start having interviews with the asylum seekers and find out what they really need," said Ilze Thielmann, director of Team TLC NYC.
READ MORE: New York City considering using cruise ships as temporary housing for migrants
But soon, instead of coming to the bus terminal, they'll head directly to what's called Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers, which will providing shelter, food, medical care, case work services, and a range of settlement options.
The city says they would only shelter single adults. Families would be placed in a relief center with a different set-up.
Two centers are set to open soon, one in Orchard Beach for adults, and another location is still being finalized.
"We expressed our concerns about the possibility of having families with children in congregant settings, which has proven to be very dangerous in the past," said attorney Josh Goldfein of the Legal Aid Society.
Goldfein said moving some people in shelters into permanent housing with some assistance would clear up space for incoming migrants.
"We wouldn't have to rely on tent cities or cruise ships or summer camps or some of the other things that have been discussed," Goldfein said. "If we can give people a minute to get settled, I think we'll find that people want to be in other places. They don't all want to be in New York, but they're here, they want to work and want to move on with their lives."
The city says, depending on the situation, asylum seekers will stay for 24-96 hours in one of the centers before going to immediate housing.
The city doesn't have a price tag yet, but plans to ask the state and federal government for help.