The current migrant problem in New York City is likely to cost more than $12 billion by 2025, according to Mayor Eric Adams. He appealed once again for more governmental intervention.
“We have reached capacity,” Mayor Adams declared in a statement, as about 100,000 people seeking refuge have arrived in the city since last year. Without legislative reforms and more help from the state and federal governments, New York City is left to pick up the pieces of a dysfunctional immigration system estimated to cost our city $12 billion over three fiscal years.
Adams emphasized that although empathy is boundless, financial means are not.
The city, which calls itself a sanctuary city, has repeatedly said it cannot accommodate the flood of migrants due to capacity constraints. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has provided buses for migrants to major cities, including New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Philadelphia.
Adams said that more than 57,000 people are now using the city’s shelter services. The city is spending around $9.8 million daily, $300 million monthly, and $3.6 billion annually.
This month, photos taken outside the Roosevelt Hotel pushed the city’s immigration problems into the spotlight. The hotel is being used as an arrival point, and the images showed long lines of adult migrants camped outside.
During a news conference, Adams said that the shelter system was so packed that those seeking refuge were forced to sleep outside. Adams noted that refugees come to the United States hoping for a better life, not a nightmare.
The New York City mayor stood in solidarity with Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s Tuesday declaration of an emergency and request for further federal help and restated his call for government intervention.
Healey cited the federal government’s immigration and work authorization restrictions, the lack of affordable housing, and the end of COVID-era initiatives as contributing issues.
In a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, she explained that many of these families are recent arrivals to Massachusetts, attracted here because we are and proudly have been a light for those in need.
Last Monday, Democratic Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema blasted the decision to provide more than $100 million to New York City.
Sinema remarked that the conditions in Arizona are second only to those in southern Texas.
