A motion filed by The Legal Aid Society in Butler v. City of New York late Thursday evening secured a temporary halt to the transfer of all disabled homeless New Yorkers from hotels back to local shelters, as reported by The New York Times.

The motion comes amid widespread concern that the City is rushing to complete the moves by the end of July, jeopardizing the health and safety of many New Yorkers with disabilities and/or medical issues.

Joshua Goldfein, a staff attorney for The Legal Aid Society, slammed the transfers returning people with health issues back to group shelters at the very moment when the COVID-19 Delta variant is on the rise.

“The city is moving people faster than it can screen them,” said Goldfein. “So every day, at every hotel, we are meeting people who have disabilities that are not taken into account when D.H.S. was assigning them a new placement and as a result are being sent to places that are dangerous for them or can’t serve them.”