New York City’s Democratic Mayor, Eric Adams, is appealing to the city’s affluent residents for financial assistance amid the challenges posed by President Joe Biden’s migrant crisis. Adams is urging wealthy New Yorkers to contribute financially to help the city navigate the strain on resources caused by the influx of illegal aliens. This request follows the recent announcement of significant budget cuts in the city.
“This is a moment where it’s an all hands on deck moment,” Adams told a Police Athletic League lunch on Friday.
“The way it goes, New York goes, America goes, but I’m going to need you more than ever to support many of these organizations like PAL, Robin Hood Foundation, and others,” he said, according to the New York Post.
“A moment where our philanthropic interests must align with some of the gaps and services that we are seeing today.”
Adams has also urged New Yorkers to voice their concerns to Washington, D.C., requesting additional support for the city facing what he deems a “national crisis.” These comments followed the announcement by the “sanctuary city” that it would reduce police numbers to redirect funds toward assisting migrants. Budget cuts have been initiated in various sectors, including education and sanitation. Adams unveiled a $110.5 billion budget, asserting that cuts across all agencies were unavoidable.
The city spent $1.45 billion in fiscal 2023 addressing the migrant crisis, with an anticipated expenditure of an additional $11 billion in taxpayer funds in 2024 and 2025. The New York Police Department (NYPD) will implement a hiring freeze to reduce numbers to below 30,000 by the end of fiscal year 2025, aiming to lower the current count from over 33,000. Significant cuts are also planned for education programs, including the universal pre-kindergarten initiative, and sanitation services. Since last year, over 130,000 migrants have arrived in New York City.
The situation is a consequence of the prolonged crisis at the southern border, spanning nearly three years, primarily attributed to Biden’s policies. It’s worth noting that the figures observed in NYC represent only a fraction of the over 2.4 million migrant encounters at the southern border in FY 23. Despite this, Adams has expressed concern that the crisis could have a devastating impact on the city. The recent budget cuts have sparked anger from the city’s teachers and police unions.
“This is truly a disaster for every New Yorker who cares about safe streets,” police union President Patrick Hendry said.
“Cops are already stretched to our breaking point, and these cuts will return us to staffing levels we haven’t seen since the crime epidemic of the ‘80s and ‘90s.”
“We cannot go back there. We need every level of government to work together to find a way to support police officers and protect New York City’s thirty years of public safety progress,” he said.
New York City, along with other liberal jurisdictions such as Massachusetts and Chicago, has appealed for increased federal assistance due to the escalating numbers of migrants. The Biden administration highlights that it has allocated over $770 million in the past year to support communities dealing with migrant influx. The White House also emphasizes the recommendations provided by its teams of experts.
A DHS official contends that the department has deployed personnel to aid in authorizing work permits and educating migrants about the immigration system. Additionally, the White House has requested an extra $14 billion in emergency funding for border operations, including $1.4 billion in grants for local governments and nonprofits. Despite these efforts, the border crisis persists, with over 249,000 migrant encounters in October, only slightly lower than the record set in September. Since the start of the fiscal year, there has been an average of over 1,000 detected gotaways per day.