ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday that she wants to spend $2.4 billion to care for the massive influx of migrants that have overwhelmed New York City’s homeless shelters — making a damaging political issue in her annual state budget proposal for the Democrats.
The migrant spending plan — which would include shelter services, legal assistance and more — came as part of a $233 billion budget proposal from the governor’s office that will kick off months of negotiations with legislative leaders.
How the governor planned to handle dealing with migrants, some 70,000 of whom are in New York City’s care, had been a looming question ahead of the legislative session.
The governor did not address the issue in her State of the State address last week and the word “migrant” was not mentioned in her detailed 181-page policy plan book, an omission criticized by many in the Capitol.
The issue has the potential to damage Democratic congressional candidates this fall, with New York expected to become a battleground for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans have consistently criticized President Joe Biden and fellow Democrats over federal immigration policy, with the topic already involving race in New York.
Hochul, who has occasionally spoken with New York Mayor Eric Adams about the city’s response to migrants, had for months pledged a new round of financial aid to help the city with the asylum seekers. The state has already allocated $1.9 billion in emergency funds
Adams himself was recalibrating his own budget forecasts last week, reversing a small number of cuts he planned to make after his office lowered estimates of how much the migrant crisis would cost the city.
Under Hochul’s plan, the $2.4 billion set aside for migrants would go toward short-term shelter services, health care and paying for large-scale emergency housing centers set up to accommodate the influx of asylum seekers.
Under her proposal, it would also be used to pay for legal aid to help migrants through the asylum and work permit process.
