The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into funding and operations at two Manhattan hotels, which are used as immigration shelters, according to several reports.
Federal prosecutors sent Subpoenas to the Roosevelt Hotel, according to CBS News.
Prosecutors are seeking information about people who stayed there, including names and identification information.
Asylum seekers line up in front of the historic Roosevelt Hotel, converted into a city-run shelter for newly arrived immigrant families in New York City. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Large blue urban immigration shelter opens despite vehement opposition from residents
As part of the investigation, prosecutors issued a subpoena to Hotel Chandler, which is being used as a homeless shelter rather than an immigration shelter.
A subpoena issued by the Southern District of New York refers to a suspected violation of federal immigration law. FOX 5 NYreported that the summons were sent to the hotel rather than to the city officials.
According to the New York Times, the hotel asked for the names of the entities and individuals who are responsible for the “finances and management of the Illegal Immigration/Immigration Shelter Program” and the related agreements or contracts or entities and individuals.
Hundreds of immigrants sleep outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, midtown, Manhattan. According to several reports, Hundreds of immigrants are sleeping outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for the New York Daily News by Getty Images)
Mayor Eric Adams says the Roosevelt Hotel immigration shelter in NYC will close soon
A spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams told the outlet he could not comment on any kind of federal investigation. Fox News Digital has contacted the mayor's office and the Department of Justice for more information.
Currently, less than 45,000 immigrants are in city care, starting from the high of 69,000 in January 2024. New York City taxpayers have driven out billions of dollars to pay homes for more than 232,000 people who have arrived in New York City since the spring of 2022.
Protesters are protesting New York City's response to the immigration crisis outside the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
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The approximately 1,000-room Roosevelt Hotel has handled more than 173,000 immigrants since it opened in May 2023, and has been the focus of the city's immigration crisis over the past two years.
New York City has agreed to pay up to $220 million to a hotel owned by the Pakistani government. The contract was reportedly part of the $11 billion IMF [International Monetary Fund] A relief package to help Pakistan avoid international debt defaults, according to former investment banker and author John Lefeb.
Adams announced that the New York Post reported the June closure times and that the shelter will close soon.
