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As of August, more than 210,000 migrants had arrived in New York City since the spring of 2022, a two-year influx that has strained government resources and the city’s openness to immigration.
People from all over the world have arrived, at one point by the thousands each week. Most of them hail from Latin America, but many come from Africa and Asia. Large numbers of migrants have said they crossed the southern border to seek asylum in the United States.
In New York, many have sought shelter with the city, which has a legal obligation to provide it to anyone who asks. That rule has forced the city to find beds for migrants in more than 200 hotels, tent dormitories and office buildings. The influx has pushed the city’s homeless shelter population to a record high.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, has called it a humanitarian crisis that will cost the city about $10 billion over three years. He declared a state of emergency and has repeatedly asked the federal government for more funds and for expedited work authorizations for migrants so they can become self-sufficient.
The mayor has said that President Biden “failed” the city by not doing more. But in June, Mr. Biden issued an executive order to essentially block asylum at the southern border and deter illegal crossings. The move sharply decreased border crossings this summer, as well as the number of people arriving in New York.
Still, the city continued to shelter nearly 64,000 migrants as of early August, creating quality-of-life concerns in some neighborhoods with migrant shelters. Hoping to reduce the shelter population, the city implemented stricter rules this year on how long migrants could stay in shelters, forcing some migrants to sleep outside.