Recent figures show that only two percent of the tens of thousands of migrants arriving in New York applied for a work permit. The fact that unauthorised migrants are unable to afford rented accommodation and shelters are at full capacity further exacerbates the situation, raising concerns that many, including entire families, may end up homeless on the streets.

Only about 2% of the tens of thousands of migrants who have poured into the Big Apple since the asylum seeker crisis started have actually applied for work permits, writes the New York Post.

Only 2% of the 140K migrants who have come to NYC have applied for work permits https://t.co/glzPwFzJTa pic.twitter.com/Rnyl8UBjnm

— New York Post (@nypost) November 10, 2023

Some 18 months after the relentless migrant influx began, only 3,200 asylum seekers in New York City have filed the required paperwork needed to start earning a legal paycheck, according to figures provided by City Hall. 1,495 of those work authorisation applications have been filed through the city’s Asylum Application Help Center since the facility opened back in June, the paper adds, noting that another 1,700 work applications were submitted last month when Department of Homeland Security staffers arrived to Gotham for a two-week stretch to help speed through the bureaucratic process.

WATCH: Hundreds of migrants reportedly line up at the courthouse to get their immigration papers in Downtown Manhattan, New York City

pic.twitter.com/6SsYw5FOLi

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 7, 2023

Still, it’s just about a two per cent fraction of the 139,500 asylum seekers who have come through the city’s intake system since spring 2022, although that number also accounts for migrants who aren’t eligible to work, including children.

While the city knows that there are more than 42,000 adult migrants in its care, the number who are actually work-eligible is a mystery because the city, state or feds haven’t been fully tracking the asylum seekers after they cross the border, writes the New York Post.

They add that currently, there are 65,500 asylum seekers being put up in the more than 200 Big Apple-run shelter sites scattered across the five boroughs.

According to City Hall figures more than 2,800 new migrants arrived last week alone, down from the record weekly high of 3,900 asylum seekers recorded by authorities early last month. Since then, the weekly pace of arrivals has been hovering around the 2,500 mark, but officials within the Adams administration have cautioned that the reprieve may „only be temporary.”

Meanwhile, the influx of asylum seekers, along with a housing affordability and homelessness crisis decades in the making, are causing the city’s shelter system to push past capacity, city officials and nonprofit staff say.

„I want to be honest with New Yorkers: You’re going to see the visual of running out of room. It’s not if, it’s when. People are going to be sleeping on our streets,” Eric Adams said back in October. In the not too distant past, New York’s mayor used to be an enthusiastic supporter of the admission of illegal migrants.

Since July, 21,000 vacate notices have been issued to migrants in shelters − including families with children − because there’s no more space, according to the mayor’s office. Individual migrants get 30-day notices to leave shelters, and migrant families get 60-day notices.

The new time limits imposed on shelter stays break more than 40 years of a unique, traditional right to shelter in the city that policymakers and homeless advocates have long championed because it saves lives, USA Today highlights its piece.

The city of New York has a legal obligation to provide temporary accommodation or a bed for anyone in need.

New York City, which is legally obligated to provide a bed for every homeless person who asks for one, has quietly stopped offering them to some migrants. Some are spending days looking for shelter or sleeping on the floor in waiting areas. https://t.co/5zYqZDOsiC pic.twitter.com/k725Z1yLMx

— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 8, 2023

Among migrants who have already received notices, 8,400 have notices that have expired, meaning their 30 or 60 days are up and they must leave the shelter, return to the migrant intake center and ask for another shelter room, which isn’t guaranteed.

New York City’s sprawling shelter system has meant that the city’s enormous homeless population was mostly indoors for years, somewhat hidden from the public and given much-needed shelter in dangerous weather conditions, USA Today note.

Now, advocates are warning that this could change swiftly, just as winter descends on the Northeast.

“People will be on the street. For the first time in almost 50 years, we will see children on the street. It is simply not acceptable,”

– said Christine Quinn, CEO of the homeless shelter Win NYC and former speaker of the New York City Council.