New York City’s Mayor, Eric Adams, has been charged with overstating the city’s public expenses associated with caring for international migrants amidst the most recent phase of the problem — inaccurately predicting elevated expenditure even though the wave of immigrant arrivals is on a decline.
The report anticipates that the spending by 2024 will culminate at $3.8 billion, a sum that is $1 billion less than the previously projected $4.8 billion. It notes that despite decreasing numbers of new arrivals, the projected budget has either risen or remained the same.
Since mid-2022, it’s reported that over 240,000 migrants, primarily originating from Latin America, have flocked into the city. This has imposed a considerable financial burden on city resources, even as an unspecified number of these immigrants are suspected of having unlawfully crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.
Initially, Mayor Adams had expressed a warm welcome to the migrants. However, as the situation continued, he turned concerned, stating this ‘crisis’ could potentially ‘ruin New York City.’ Consequently, he has used these associated costs as justification for implementing and reversing cuts to the municipal budget that were not even related to city services.
Uniquely in the nation, New York City has a legal obligation to provide accommodation and food to anyone in need who applies for it. A significant portion of the spending has been attributed to this distinctive legal obligation.
Last year, the city put limits on the duration for which specific categories of migrants could avail of shelter services, marking a decisive move to control these costs.
In response to the report, Adams’ spokesperson, Amaris Cockfield, indicated that the forecasts are subject to revision in the upcoming budget projections. Cockfield acknowledged the difficulties in cost prediction during such a rapidly changing and unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
“Ever since the spring of 2022, the Adams’ administration has looked after nearly 240,000 individuals seeking asylum,” Cockfield revealed. However, she insisted that previous estimates from the office have turned out to be unreliable.
She warned, “If we had underestimated these unpredictable expenses — as some observers did — it would have applied severe stress on our city’s budget, negatively influencing New Yorkers even further.” Thus offering a justification for the administration’s decisions.
According to the most recent report from the office, the trend of overestimated costs in budget projections has persisted in every plan the administration has put forward since the middle of 2023.
For instance, the estimate for expenditure in the current fiscal year was pinned at $4.4 billion, a figure greater than the previous year’s spending. This overestimation occurred despite the decline in the number of arrivals as well as the reduced number of migrants using city-provided shelter facilities, including hotels, tent housing, and offices, informed office analyst Claire Salant.
Salant noted a decrease in the population starting from January 2024. The decline became more steep when President Joe Biden enforced strict restrictions on the U.S.-Mexico border midway through the previous year. The measures have brought down unlawful border crossings to levels not seen since the middle of 2020.
Despite these trends, the report pointed out that the Adams administration did not revise its budget forecasts. The mayor’s office has faced repeated claims for overstating the expenses related to migrants, marking another point of contention in this debate.
Jumaane Williams, the city’s elected public advocate, has been openly critical of the mayor on these points. As recently as last month, Williams accused: “The Mayor has deceived the city for years about the cost of assisting asylum-seekers.”