Pregnant NYC migrants catch a break. They won't face eviction until their babies turn 6 months old.

Jan. 17, 2024, 6:18 p.m.

The exemption follows last week's uproar after pregnant migrants were forced to leave shelters where they’d been staying for months.

Photo of migrants sleeping on the sidewalk

Pregnant migrants in their third trimester have been granted a reprieve by the Adams administration: They won’t face eviction from New York City shelters until their babies turn 6 months old.

The new temporary exemption, which was first reported by local news outlet THE CITY, follows criticism of the Adams administration for uprooting pregnant migrants and newborns in the dead of winter. The city began implementing new 60-day stay limits for migrant families last week.

“The health and safety of migrants in our care is always a top priority,” City Hall spokesperson Charles Lutvak said in a statement. He added that the new shelter limits and “intensive case management” help “families with children take the next step in their journey towards permanency and self-sufficiency.”

City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak previously said 1,600 families will be required to leave their shelters by the end of the month under the 60-day limit policy – with an opportunity to reapply for shelter elsewhere if they cannot find new housing on their own.

Officials have said the new stay limits are aimed at freeing up shelter beds for newly arrived migrants.

The city began evicting migrant families from its shelters on Jan. 9. Maria Quero, 26, a pregnant migrant from Venezuela, was among those who were forced out. Quero, who lauded the new exemptions, said she was 35 weeks pregnant at the time of her move.

"A pregnant woman suffers from so much emotional change, especially having to be in a situation of having to change where you live," she said in Spanish through WhatsApp, in reaction to the policy change.

After leaving the Row Hotel in Midtown, she and her husband were relocated to a Brooklyn shelter.

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