New York City reportedly wants to secure 14,000 hotel rooms to house migrants until next year as it continues to spend billions of dollars in the aftermath of the border crisis as a sanctuary city.
new york post Despite a significant drop in migrant encounters at the southern border, the city continues to use hotels to house migrants, and the Department of Homeless Services continues to use total capacity to house migrants, according to a report. It is seeking a contract with a hotel that will provide 14,000 rooms.
The Post reported that housing spending over the three-year period will exceed $2.3 billion, most of which will go toward hotel rent. Spending on the immigration crisis is expected to exceed $5 billion, and Mayor Eric Adams previously said costs could rise to more than $10 billion by the end of next fiscal year. Previous estimates put the number even higher.
New York City’s immigration crisis costs expected to exceed $5 billion over two years – double to $10 billion by 2025
On October 2, 2024, New York City Mayor Eric Adams will appear in federal court on charges of bribery for illegally soliciting campaign contributions from foreigners in New York City. (Reuters/Caitlin Ochs)
It will cost at least 36,939 households an average of $352 per night, and the city previously predicted it would spend $4.75 billion to provide housing, food, health care and education to the influx of immigrants during fiscal year 2025. (according to the latest forecasts). The City's online asylum seeker funds tracking tool.
In August, the city announced two new contracts totaling $40 million with contractors to serve migrants in hotels used as emergency shelters.
As the number of migrants surged at the border in 2021 and 2022, tens of thousands of migrants moved into major blue cities such as New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia. They were helped in 2022 when Texas Governor Greg Abbott began busing migrants directly to these cities as a way to ease pressure on border states. He said he chose sanctuary cities (cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement) because they are contributing to the crisis.
At the height of the crisis, hundreds of migrants were seen camping outside the Roosevelt Hotel. New York City officials say more than 218,000 immigrants are currently receiving services in New York City since 2022.
Man stabbed to death near Randall Island shelter, weeks after mass shooting near New York migrant camp
Officials say they have helped process more than 72,000 applications for work permits, temporary protected status, asylum and more. The city also purchased 47,000 tickets to help migrants reach other parts of the country.
Click here for more information on immigration
At the peak of the crisis, the city was receiving an average of 4,000 migrants per week. But that number has dwindled to a few hundred in recent months as the border crisis subsided following President Biden's presidential proclamations restricting asylum claims. The Post reported that more than 700 new immigrants arrived in the city last week.
Immigrants reach for food distributed outside the Roosevelt Hotel on August 2, 2023 in New York City. Dozens of recently arrived migrants are camping out at the Roosevelt Hotel, trying to find temporary housing. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
This week, the city announced it would close a large tent shelter on Randall Island. The number of asylum seekers in the city's shelters has fallen for 14 consecutive weeks and is now at its lowest level in more than a year, officials said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“We are not out of the woods yet, but make no mistake about it. Our smart business strategy and successful advocacy efforts got us through this crisis,” Adams said in a statement. “We're not rushing to open new shelters every day. We're talking about closing shelters. We're talking about how much we've spent. It's not about how much you save.
FOX News' Daniel Wallace contributed to this report.
