New York Governor Kathy Hochul proposed allocating $2.4 billion in state funds to help tackle an influx of migrants arriving to the state but warned more must be done to manage the crisis.
New York City has seen a sharp increase in the arrival of migrant arrivals in recent months after Texas Governor Greg Abbott began busing migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border. The uptick in migrants in New York has left city officials scrambling to come up with shelter, resources and healthcare for the migrants. The city has seen more than 13,000 migrants arrive per month, Hochul said during a Tuesday morning press conference announcing her $233 billion budget proposal for the 2025 fiscal year.
Hochul announced that $1.9 billion will be allocated from the state’s budget and that an additional $500 million will be withdrawn from the state reserves to help city officials manage new migrant arrivals. This totals $2.4 billion being allocated to the migrant crisis.
“Because of these extraordinary circumstances, which show no sign of abating right now, we have no choice but to plan for those costs again in this years’ budget,” she said. “The state will now maintain that same $1.9 billion in funding. But because the number of migrants and the expenses have only grown, I am proposing that we draw $500 million from state reserves intended for one-time emergencies like this.”
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This will support migrant shelters, healthcare and management services, according to an overview of the budget released by Hochul’s office. The previous budget initially allocated $1.5 billion for migrants, but spending grew to $1.9 billion, the governor said.
However, she warned in a post to X (formerly Twitter) after the press conference that more needs to be done to help the city grapple with the surge of new migrants.
“In our budget, we’re committing $2.4 billion to help New York City manage the migrant crisis. But the crisis won’t change until we see change in policy. I’ll be in Washington on Friday to support federal legislation & push for more funding to help the City,” she wrote.
Hochul’s budget proposal underscores the challenges faced by elected officials as the need for increased migrant funding threatens cuts to other crucial government services.
She said the additional migrant funds is not only “the right thing to do” for asylum seekers and the city of New York, but also argued the state has economic interest in handling the migrant crisis.
“We also know that companies won’t do business in New York if there are thousands of people sleeping on the streets or the quality of life is dramatically impacted because the city is forced to cut essential services. We must support the city of New York in this moment, avoiding disastrous effects and to protect our economy and state revenues in the short-term and the long-term as well,” Hochul said.
New York lawmakers have until April 1, 2024, to pass a budget.
Newsweek reached out to Hochul’s office for comment via email.
Both Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams have previously warned about the impact of the migrant crisis, calling on the federal government to do more to ensure cities have resources to handle the surge in arrivals.
Hochul has previously warned that current levels of spending on migrants are “unsustainable,” while Adams has said the migrant crisis may cost the city $12 billion over a three-year period, forcing him to rely increasingly on the state government for assistance as the city struggles to come up with that funding.
Adams has pressed President Joe Biden to provide sanctuary cities funding to cope with the migrant crisis, but relations between Adams and the White House have deteriorated as he voices critiques of Biden’s handling of immigration.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.