NYC’s Migrant Crisis Could Cost More Than Trump’s Border Wall Estimates

NYC’s Migrant Crisis Could Cost More Than Trump’s Border Wall Estimates

Jennie Taer on August 9, 2023

New York City predicts it will spend $12 billion to house and support migrants through the summer of 2025, which is more than former President Donald Trump estimated it would cost to complete construction of a wall along the southern border, Democratic Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday.

Adams said during a video announcement that the city is predicted to spend $1.45 billion by the end of fiscal year 2022 and roughly $4.7 billion by the end of fiscal year 2024, which he said the city cannot sustain. In 2016, Trump projected it would cost the government $8 billion to build 1,000 miles of wall along the southern border.

“New Yorkers’ compassion may be limitless, but our resources are not,” Adams said during his announcement.

Trump’s border wall construction topped $11 billion as of 2020, according to NPR.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 18: Asylum seekers board a bus en route to a shelter at Port Authority Bus Terminal on May 18, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The federal government has pledged to give the city $130 million, according to New York Daily News. Adams, however, is asking for more federal support.

“While many Republicans in congress may be holding up critical reform, the White House can help us now. I agree with Massachusetts Governor Healey, the federal government must take action, we appreciate them sending a team from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to New York City to assess the situation this week,” Adams said.

“There’s more they can do, including expediting pathways to work authorizations for asylum seekers,” Adams said.

In recent days, Adams has announced that the city will erect two new shelters to support thousands of migrants as the city experiences an influx in arrivals. The city is supporting more than 57,000 migrants.