New York plans to cut spending for immigrants by 20%

New York City is considering cutting 20% ​​of its spending on the thousands of immigrants who have arrived since the spring of last year and who, according to Mayor Eric Adams, have undermined the city’s finances.

The director of the Mayor’s Budget Office, Jacques Jiha, sent a memo to agency heads on Wednesday demanding that they present by December 8 a plan for 20% cuts in spending for immigrants, with a view to keep the budget balanced for fiscal years 2024 and 2025.

Jiha recalls that the flow of immigrants continues, and that 66,000 of the 143,000 who have arrived in New York since the spring of 2022 are under the care of the city.

Remember that the city allocated $6.2 billion this month to the fiscal plan for 2024 and 2025 to address the costs of housing and caring for immigrants, but warns that the gaps in local finances have “expanded.”

As disclosed by the Mayor’s Office at the end of October, the cost of immigrants welcomed into the system has risen to almost $400 per person per day.

Among the measures that the Adams administration has adopted to deal with the humanitarian and fiscal crisis, the time in which a single person can be in a shelter has been limited to 30 days and the period for families to 60 days.

In parallel, Adams has also gone to court to suspend the law that forces the city to house anyone who requests it, in an attempt to stop the flow of immigrants, mostly Venezuelans and with a large number of Africans.

Jiha expressed gratitude for the nearly $1.8 billion that Gov. Kathy Hochul has committed to immigrant spending, but noted that she has warned that the state cannot continue to help at that level without risking reduced services.

The memo indicates that there can be no layoffs as part of the cost reduction plan and no staff will be hired.

“It is clear that we must do more. The city cannot sustain the costs of caring for asylum seekers at current levels and at the same time maintain city services and keep the city safe and clean,” Jiha said.