New York state's 10.7 million taxpayers will have to pay an average of more than $215 to cover the cost of the state's ongoing immigration crisis, according to a new analysis.
Put another way, it would take all of the taxes paid by 328,471 New Yorkers to cover the $2.3 billion in taxes needed to house and care for the state's staggering number of asylum seekers. Become.
The analysis was conducted by Gina Arena's campaign, the Republican candidate for the Lower Hudson Valley's 40th State Senate District, based on the average state income tax of $7,000 for New Yorkers in 2022.
“What are we doing to the taxpayers? It's time to wake up.”
Arena said the immigration crisis is spiraling out of control, especially in New York City, where, as the newspaper reported, young gang members housed in city shelters are raiding and committing crimes around the Times Square tourist district. Ta.
Much of the funding will go toward hotels being used as emergency shelters for asylum seekers, with the city planning to secure up to 14,000 hotel rooms by next year.
“Right now, we're paying taxes to Venezuelan gang members to turn Times Square into a crime zone. New York is such a mess under one-party progressive rule,” Arena said. said.
“New York is in dire need of a reality check. There is something seriously wrong with this state if the annual state income tax revenue from the entire state senate district is not enough to cover some of the housing costs for immigrants. Yes,” she said.
Alina, a mother of eight children, including a daughter with autism, said she is an advocate for the poor, including people with disabilities.
But she said New York policymakers are misjudged priorities by spending so much money on the immigration crisis.
“New Yorkers have big hearts,” she said. “But we have real needs of our own. Road infrastructure is in shambles, special needs families don't have enough support, and senior centers need rebuilding.” , and critical school projects lack funding.
“At the same time, our taxes are through the roof; our health care, energy and insurance costs are among the highest in the nation, and the cost of everyday goods remains high,” Arena said. “For New York progressives, that’s just another $2.3 billion, but for hundreds of thousands of hardworking New Yorkers, it’s the fruit of a year of wasted labor.”
Mayor Eric Adams' administration announced that the city will pay $5.76 billion for housing and care for immigrants from summer 2022 through June of next year.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature have budgeted $2.4 billion for immigration costs for the current fiscal year, which runs from April 1 to March 31.
Albany has pledged a total of $4.3 billion in funding for immigration costs across the state between last year and this year, according to the City Budget Office's asylum funding tracker.
Direct state aid to the city is $3.1 billion over two years, according to the tracker.
At last week's League of Women Voters debate, Harkham spoke out against Congress for refusing to dedicate federal funds to New York City to deal with the influx of immigrants and for refusing to pass a compromise bill to strengthen border security. He blamed the Republican Party.
“Gina Arena is committed to New York's long fight for women's reproductive freedoms and her support for extremist policies that harm all New Yorkers,” Harcum Senate campaign manager Victoria Doody said in a statement. “We continue to look for ways to distract voters from this.”
“Seeking attention, she blew dog whistles and distorted immigration numbers to hide the fact that her Republican allies in Congress were doing nothing to solve the immigration crisis,” Doody claimed. did. “On the contrary, Pete Harckham is fighting to protect women's reproductive freedom and cut taxes for the middle class to keep New York affordable.”
