New York would risk being unable to fund many services for its own citizens if it continues to pour money into accommodating the needs of the unending influx of illegal immigrants, the state’s top budget official warned over the weekend.
In an Oct. 28 memo to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office, New York State Budget Director Blake Washington said the illegal immigration crisis is creating a widening financial burden that could put many budget items “at risk,” including those related to education, health care, and national security.
“One of the most pressing is the ongoing request for financial assistance from the City of New York to assist in managing the large influx of asylum seekers and migrants arriving daily,” he wrote, noting that Albany is committing $1.5 billion to assist New York City in “managing this crisis” in the facial year 2024 budget.
This amount, according to Mr. Washington, doesn’t account for the $358 million the state is planning to spend on covering rent and other services for illegal immigrants housed at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, helping file and manage their asylum claims, and paying for their infectious disease screenings and immunizations.
“Further, the Governor has committed to assist the City in provisioning shelter on a temporary basis at Floyd Bennett Field, Randall’s Island and the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center,” he added.
As there is no sign that the federal government would send money or dramatically tighten its border policies any soon, the Empire State won’t be able to afford that much spending on illegal immigrants for long without having to compromise on existing services, Mr. Washington warned.
“With the continued influx of migrants, no promises of financial support from the Federal government, and no clear pathway to a wholesale policy change at the Federal level to address the situation, New York State can only shoulder this financial commitment for a limited duration without putting other areas of the State budget at risk, such as aid to public schools, support for our health delivery infrastructure, and the readiness of our National Guard,” the state budgeteer wrote.
“This is compounded by our need to address the remaining FY 2025 $4.3 billion gap in partnership with the State Legislature,” he added.
In the meantime, Mr. Washington argued, Albany should be shifting its focus from housing and feeding illegal immigrants to putting them to work.
“As we move forward, outside of fulfilling our existing commitments, we must consider limiting our assistance to targeted interventions such as legal services, case management and efforts to connect migrants and asylum seekers to jobs, as opposed to sharing in more costly services such as indefinite stays in hotel rooms,” the letter read.
“New York’s ability to pay for these programs is not unlimited,” the letter continued. “We must exercise fiscal prudence now, so that we can maintain our record level of investments to state programs and robust savings and continue our efforts to make New York more affordable, more livable, and safer for this generation and beyond.”
The letter comes as New York Mayor Eric Adams declared that his city has officially run out of indoor shelter space to house illegal immigrants, who are arriving at a rate of 2,500 to 4,000 each week. More than 65,000 of those individuals are relying on the city for basic needs.
“It’s not ‘if’ people will be sleeping on the streets, it’s when,” said the mayor. “We are at full capacity.”
The financial impact brought by the illegal immigration crisis has already prompted Mr. Adams to ask every government agency to submit plans to slash their budgets by 5 percent by November, and potentially by up 15 percent by next spring, depending on whether the city can get more federal money by that time.
“The simple truth is that longtime New Yorkers and asylum seekers will feel these potential cuts and they will hurt,” the mayor said in a video statement in September. “New Yorkers are angry and frustrated, and they are right to be. I am too.”
“I want to be clear: these tough decisions are a direct result of inaction in Washington and in Albany,” he added. “We can still avoid these cuts if Washington and Albany do their part by paying their fair share, and coming up with a decompression strategy that reduces the pressure on New York City, so we are not forced to manage this crisis almost entirely on our own.”
