Spending has soared to more than $5 billion
New York City is reportedly on the hunt for 14,000 hotel rooms to accommodate migrants through the next year, as the sanctuary city grapples with the financial repercussions of the ongoing border crisis. Despite a notable decline in migrant encounters at the southern border, the New York Post has revealed that the city plans to continue utilizing hotels for migrant housing. The Department of Homeless Services is actively pursuing contracts with hotels to secure these rooms.
The financial burden of this initiative is staggering. Over a three-year period, the city’s spending on housing migrants is projected to exceed $2.3 billion, primarily allocated for hotel rentals. Overall expenditures related to the migrant crisis are anticipated to surpass $5 billion, with Mayor Eric Adams warning that costs could escalate to over $10 billion by the conclusion of the next fiscal year. Earlier estimates had suggested even higher figures.
At an average nightly rate of $352 for approximately 36,939 households, the city forecasts spending $4.75 billion on shelter, food, healthcare, and education for the influx of migrants during the 2025 fiscal year, according to the city’s online asylum seeker funding tracker.
In August, the city announced two new contracts totaling $40 million for contractors to provide services to migrants housed in hotels designated as emergency shelters.
The surge of migrants to major blue cities, including New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia, was particularly pronounced in 2021 and 2022. This influx was exacerbated when Texas Governor Greg Abbott began busing migrants directly to these cities, a move he justified by claiming that sanctuary cities encouraged the crisis.
During the height of the crisis, scenes of hundreds of migrants camped outside the Roosevelt Hotel became commonplace. Since 2022, New York City officials report that over 218,000 migrants have received services within the city.
Officials have successfully assisted in completing more than 72,000 applications for work permits, temporary protected status, and asylum. Additionally, the city has purchased 47,000 tickets to facilitate migrants’ travel to other parts of the country.
At the peak of the crisis, the city was receiving an average of 4,000 migrants per week. However, this number has dwindled to the hundreds in recent months, following a presidential proclamation from President Biden that limited asylum claims. The Post noted that more than 700 new migrants arrived in the city last week.
This week, the city announced the closure of a large tent shelter on Randall’s Island. Officials report that the number of asylum seekers in city shelters has decreased for 14 consecutive weeks, reaching its lowest level in over a year.
Mayor Adams stated, “We’re not out of the woods yet, but make no mistake, thanks in large part to our smart management strategies and successful advocacy, we have turned the corner on this crisis.” He emphasized that the city is no longer in a position of scrambling to open new shelters, but rather discussing the closure of existing ones. “We’re not talking about how much we’re spending. We’re talking about how much we’ve saved.”
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
