New York City is expanding its overnight curfew to 20 more migrant shelters on Monday, following two violent incidents in Times Square.
The 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, imposed by Mayor Eric Adams, will affect about 3,600 migrants at more than a dozen Housing Preservation and Development emergency locations in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, according to Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak Altus. Adams initially set the same curfew for four shelters last month in an attempt to crack down on the city’s migrant crisis.
“New York City continues to lead the nation in managing this national humanitarian crisis, and that includes prioritizing the health and safety of both asylum seekers in our care and New Yorkers who live in the communities surrounding the emergency shelters we manage,” Mamelak told the Associated Press in a statement.
“This policy will allow for more efficient capacity management for migrants in the city’s care,” the statement added.
The curfew’s expansion comes soon after New York City has seen an uptick in violence committed by illegal immigrants.
On Friday, for example, 15-year-old Jesus Alejandro Rivas Figueroa was arrested for opening fire inside a Times Square sporting-goods store after a security guard confronted him for attempted shoplifting the night before. A tourist from Brazil was injured in the shooting.
Rivas Figueroa was from Venezuela and had been staying at a migrant shelter in Manhattan, according to New York Police Department officials. The teenager arrived in New York last fall.
The second Times Square incident involved a group of illegal immigrants attacking two police officers late last month. A video captured by surveillance footage shows the group of migrants kicking the pair of officers, fueling public calls for Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg to bring charges against the perpetrators.
He did so on Thursday, announcing that seven of the migrants involved in the attack were indicted by a grand jury — five of the suspects were arrested. However, due to permissive local laws, most of them were released without bail and are said to be on the run.
Since spring 2022, over 150,000 illegal immigrants have entered New York City seeking asylum after crossing the southern border during the Biden administration. More than 67,000 remain in the city’s shelter system.