New York City has transferred all illegal immigrants under its care from Orange County hotels, as reported in a court
filing dated December 9.
A city attorney informed state Supreme Court Judge Sandra Sciortino that, as of December 6, no illegal immigrants are currently housed in any hotels in Orange County. The attorney also noted the termination of the city’s temporary housing initiative in the area, which lasted for a year.
As recently as mid-September, around
90 illegal immigrants were still accommodated in Ramada and Crossroads hotels in Newburgh as part of a city-funded shelter program.
This recent action in Orange County aligns with Mayor Eric Adams’s wider plan to close shelters. On December 10, he announced that he would be shutting down
25 additional shelters—both inside and outside the city—before March, fueled by the ongoing decrease in the number of illegal immigrants in the city’s care.
The Mayor’s Office stated that the count of illegal immigrants within its shelter system has been declining over the past five months, reaching its lowest level in the past 18 months.
Back in May 2023, New York City secured contracts with two Newburgh hotels and several others upstate due to an influx of over 60,000 illegal immigrants over the year. At that time, the city was caring for more than 37,500 of these individuals. Shortly after this decision, the county initiated legal action in the Orange County Supreme Court against the city and the hotels, resulting in a temporary ban on the contentious hotel-shelter practice.
In August of last year, New York State allocated
$250 million to New York City for the purpose of sheltering and providing social services to illegal immigrants. Additionally, $25 million was set aside to assist in relocating approximately 4,400 willing illegal immigrants—who had already sought asylum—to rental apartments in five counties north of the city.
Over the past two years, the city has aided more than
170,000 illegal immigrants in moving beyond temporary shelters, by facilitating work authorization applications, sponsoring train or bus tickets to their desired destinations, and through other programs, as stated by the Mayor’s Office.
A recent audit from the city comptroller’s office revealed that the city overpaid its primary contractor and subcontractors by millions of dollars for providing shelter to illegal immigrants during May and June of 2023.
The findings of the audit
report, released in August 2024, indicated that the city justified many of the overpayments for legitimate reasons, such as purchasing food and hotel accommodations in excess as a precaution for a potential surge in arrivals.
