New York City’s homeless population is surging thanks, in part, to the continued arrival of busloads of illegal immigrants from Texas being sent to the self-proclaimed “sanctuary.”
In the city’s Fiscal Year (FY) ending June 30, the homeless population increased 73%, rising from 46,675 in FY2022 to 80,724 in FY2023, according to statistics published last month in a financial report by the city’s comptroller.
“More than 22,000 asylum seekers applied for shelter through DHS as of April 2023,” the comptroller said in an August review of the city’s homeless situation, apparently counting all migrants as “asylum seekers.”
Last week, migrants set up camp in front of the mayor’s residence, to protest the time limit on how long they can live in one of the city’s shelters, regional network Spectrum News NY 1 reports:
“On Thursday, dozens of protestors set up tents and sleeping bags outside of Gracie Mansion, blasting the city’s recent restrictions on the length of time migrants can stay in shelters before they have to reapply for housing.”
The city currently has a 30-day shelter limit for adults and a 60-day limit for families.
In a September press release warning of the financial burden of actually having to be a sanctuary, Democrat New York City Mayor estimated that approximately 10,000 “asylum” seekers are “still arriving each month.”
The comptroller’s review says the city’s shelter system has been “overwhelmed” by the surge in immigration that began in 2022 when Texas – which was already being overwhelmed by illegal immigration – began busing immigrants to the “sanctuary” New York City had promised them:
“In October 2022, at the peak of the surge in migrants seeking asylum, DHS reported the highest-ever number of homeless people living within the shelter system.
“DHS stated that starting in April 2022, the State of Texas began sending buses of migrant asylum seekers to New York City. Buses arrived unannounced and unscheduled, and the people on them—most of whom had crossed into the United States via the southern border—were in need of shelter and care.
“By April 4, 2023, 22,002 asylum seeker households had applied for shelter through DHS. In response, the City opened 135 emergency sites between June 2022 and May 2023 for asylum seekers.
“The City shelter system was overwhelmed by this surge. The shelter population reached its highest-ever daily population by October 5, 2022, with over 61,000 people recorded. Although other City agencies have since stepped in to help shoulder part of this burden, the number of people in DHS shelters continued to grow. On March 1, 2023, the daily population in DHS shelters reached 70,848 people.”
On Friday, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott reported that his state has bused more than 22,800 migrants to New York City since August of 2022, as part of the multi-agency border security measure, Operation Lone Star.
To deal with the staggering cost of the immigrant surge, Mayor Adams has announced the city is reducing its number of police and making across-the-board budget cuts:
“[M]ake no mistake: Migrant costs are going up, tax revenue growth is slowing and COVID stimulus funding is drying up.”
New York City’s migrant crisis will cost nearly $11billion over two fiscal years and its FY2025 budget gap is expected to “surpass unprecedented $7 billion,” the mayor’s press release estimates.