Over 150,000 migrants have flooded New York City in under two years, and the city is struggling to keep up as more enter the country due to President Joe Biden’s border policies, according to The New York Times.
Nearly 70,000 migrants are currently living in emergency shelters, with many more stuck inside tents or out on the sidewalk, according to NYT. The city has spent $2.4 billion in the last few years on housing and emergency response coordination, among other things, but has reportedly seen little improvement as Biden’s border policies continue to allow for thousands to be released into the country. (RELATED: ‘Out Of Room’: New York City Is Literally Paying For Migrants To Leave, But Many Refuse To Go)
The city reportedly did not place enough emphasis on getting migrants out of shelters and into housing and did not begin helping many migrants file for asylum for nearly a year, leaving many unable to legally work, according to NYT. The city also signed over $2 billion in contracts to create jobs for all of the incoming workers, but some of the companies have been reported for abusing migrants.
Migrants line up outside Roosevelt Hotel while waiting for placement inside a shelter as asylum seekers camp outside the hotel as the Manhattan relief center is at full capacity in New York, United States on August 02, 2023. (Photo by Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
NYC Democratic Mayor Eric Adams said in July 2022 that he “welcomes the newcomers with open arms” and called for an increase in federal resources to help handle the influx of “challenges as we serve both a rapidly growing shelter population and new clients who are seeking asylum.” In November, Adams again called for a “national strategy” to solve the migrant crisis, while touting his city’s management of the situation by creating the “legal and resettlement infrastructure needed to address this crisis.”
The mayor reportedly called out the White House for its management of the situation during a January meeting, and said several months earlier that “The president and the White House have failed New York City on this issue,” according to the NYT.
The cost for a migrant family to stay in a shelter for one month is about $12,000, according to the NYT, and even moving just 10,000 families out of homeless shelters would save the city over $1 billion per year. Despite this, NYC officials have been so focused on finding beds for the constant stream of new migrants that planning for how to move them out is not feasible.
In an attempt to make room, the city has offered to pay for a plane ticket for migrants if they are willing to relocate. Many, however, previously told the DCNF that they planned to remain in the sanctuary city, despite facing eviction from the shelters.
Adam’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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