How much New York spends on providing for the needs of immigrants: the amount will stun you
The migrant crisis has already cost New York billions of dollars, and billions more will be needed to help asylum seekers in the next few years, AMNY reports.
An in-depth study released this week by DiNapoli’s office found taxpayers are bearing a huge financial burden due to the influx of migrants.
“New York City and the state face significant costs to assist people who are seeking refuge in this country and need help meeting their basic needs,” said State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
New York, which has accounted for a disproportionate number of arrivals since the crisis began 18 months ago, has spent more than $1.89 billion to assist migrants, including providing them with housing, health care and other basic necessities.
Mostly crossing the southern border seeking asylum from Latin American countries, more than 122,700 migrants have found themselves in New York in recent months. This situation has caused serious logistical and humanitarian problems, as well as significant financial costs.
How much more money do you need?
DiNapoli said the city will need more than $10 billion in additional funds over the next two years to address the problem, and he has asked the federal government to shoulder most of the burden.
On the subject: The queue at the ICE office in New York is distributed 7 years in advance: migrants cannot receive important documents on time
“My office has launched a new tool to provide transparency into these emergency spending and show why additional funding and logistical support from the federal government is needed,” he said.
The city’s Department of Homeless Services spent more than any other agency, distributing $883 million from July 2022 to September 2023. At the same time, the state government spent $316.2 million during this period, and plans to spend another $1.5 billion over the next two fiscal years.
The right to asylum is bursting at the seams
With 65,000 migrants currently in city shelters and more expected to arrive in the coming months, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has taken significant steps to ease the burden on city officials, including attempting to change a 1981 law “Right to Housing,” which guarantees housing for homeless people in New York.
As a first major step to reduce this guarantee, the city will no longer place single adults after 30 days or families after 60 days in any migrant shelter.
Adams is fighting for further changes to asylum law, including the ability to suspend the law entirely during a “state of emergency,” which has led to a legal standoff between the government and activists from the Legal Aid Society.
“With more than 122,700 people processed through our refugee system since the spring of 2022, and projected costs over three years of more than $12 billion, it is clear that the status quo cannot continue,” Adams said in a statement.
Human rights activists against the mayor’s office
In turn, the Legal Aid Society, which seeks to stop any weakening of the law, condemned Adams’ attempts to cut housing guarantees.
“This is the most significant and damaging attempt by the city to retreat from its legal and moral obligation to provide safe and decent housing for people without homes since that right was established 42 years ago,” the organization said in a statement.
Ending the right-to-sanctuary law will provide relief to city officials who have begun using public spaces throughout the area to build large-scale emergency shelters. Making matters worse, the FDNY recently closed five migrant shelters housing hundreds of asylum seekers due to fire code violations.
The Adams administration also created a new program that gives migrants a one-way ticket to travel anywhere in the world for free. The mayor said the program is needed because New York’s shelter system is already overwhelmed and migrants could be left on the streets this winter.