A drastic 20% reduction in spending aimed at serving immigrants was announced by the New York mayor’s office, alleging a fiscal crisis caused by the Joe Biden government’s lack of resources.
“The city cannot sustain the costs of caring for asylum seekers at current levels and, at the same time, keep services and the city safe and clean”Jacques Jiha, the mayor’s budget director, wrote Monday in a letter to city agency heads obtained by Gothamist.
“The city cannot sustain the costs of caring for asylum seekers at current levels.”
The cuts in the call “Program to Eliminate the Gap” (PEG) They would apply to both the current fiscal year 2024 budget and the following year. Even with the first 5% reductions in all municipal agencies, there is still City faces $7.1 billion deficit by fiscal year 2025 which begins next July 1, Jiha wrote.
That first 5% adjustment could be repeated in January and April, up to a total of 15% unless NYC receives much more federal and state aid for the immigration crisis. According to Adams’ latest statements, the New York police (NYPD), firefighters (FDNY) and the Department of Health (DSNY) would be saved from cuts in January.
Agencies must submit their new cut plans by December 8. Once reviewed and adjusted by officials, they will be reflected in the mayor’s preliminary budget that will be released in January.
In the latest budget figures The NYC mayor’s office plans to spend more than $6 billion on immigrants over the next two years. But the influx of asylum seekers has not stopped.
As part of a plan to encourage migrants to leave shelter, the city has required adults to vacate their assigned spot and reapply for a bed after a month. Families are subject to a 60-day limit. Critics of this measure warn about the risks of increase in destitution, which in turn is linked to violence in the streets.
The announcement of multiple cuts first came in September, when Adams warned that the lack of federal assistance for the immigration crisis left him no choice but to reduce spending across the board.
From spring 2022 More than 139,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City mostly shipped in buses from Texas, in the middle of a national political battle between democrats and republicans. About 66,000 of them remain in the city’s overloaded shelter system, according to local government counts. The shelter system’s population has gone from less than 50,000 in July 2022 to around 120,000 this month.
In September, Democratic Mayor Adams predicted that the massive arrival of immigrants will “destroy” the city. Days later he announced a staggered cut of up to 15% in the budget of all municipal agencies in order to finance the needs of the then 110,000 asylum seekers, again blaming the lack of support from President Biden and Governor Kathy Hochul. But she has since sided with her, as the number of immigrants continues to rise.
Last week, Governor Hochul admitted that she could not legally issue “regional work permits” to immigrants, as she and Adams had suggested to alleviate the immigration crisis.
Already a month ago, Hochul had also changed the rhetoric of unconditional support for mass immigration, formally expressing his support for Adams in his attempt to roll back the right to refuge law in New York City.
The New York City Council will have to approve the cuts and has joined Adams in calling for the federal government to pay for the immigrants who continue to enter from the Mexican border.
2023-11-22 14:19:00
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