New York's immigration crisis could cost $12 billion in three years

New York City Mayor Eric Adams estimated on Wednesday that the cost of the "crisis" of immigration facing the city, with the arrival of a hundred thousand refugees and migrants for economic reasons and asylum seekers from Latin America and more recently from West Africa, would amount to $12 billion over the next three years.

The mayor, a former police captain of African descent and known for his right-leaning stance within the Democratic Party, stated that "the city spent $1.45 billion in fiscal year 2023 to provide housing and food for tens of thousands of asylum seekers."

New York has a legal obligation to house and feed all newcomers, regardless of their status.

Adams warned in a statement of the presence of "around a hundred thousand" migrants in New York since April 2022, pointing out that "given the latest projections, the city could spend up to $12 billion over the next three fiscal years."

This amount represents 4% of the budget of this major city with a population of 8.5 million.

The mayor, who has tense relations with the left-wing faction of his party and even with President Joe Biden's administration, cautioned that "immigration is New York's story, it is America's story. But, as I said almost a year ago, we are facing an unprecedented emergency resulting from this asylum crisis."

Adams stated that New York is facing a "national crisis it cannot manage alone," adding that "the compassion of New Yorkers knows no bounds, but our resources do."

New York, which built its legend on successive waves of migration, now declares that it is "no longer able" to accommodate African migrants, the latest arrivals to the city.

Since the end of July, hundreds of young people from Senegal, Mauritania, and neighboring countries have been gathering on the sidewalk in front of a hotel in the hopes of obtaining accommodation.

Approximately 108,000 people are currently in hostels, hotels, and vacant apartments, with 56,000 of them being asylum seekers.

Illegal immigration from Latin America is a point of contention in US domestic policy, especially less than 18 months before the presidential elections in November 2024.

In opposition to President Biden's immigration policy, which they consider lenient, Republican governors from conservative southern states such as Texas and Florida have funded flights or bus trips to transfer migrants who arrived in their states from Latin American countries to Democratic cities considered left-wing "sanctuaries" like New York.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AFP