Migrant Crisis Will Cost NYC $600M, Audit Finds

NEW YORK CITY — An influx of asylum seekers into New York City won't cost the $1 billion that Mayor Eric Adams originally estimated, but still will carry a hefty price tag, a new audit found.

The city will spent at least $596 million on shelter, schooling, health services and legal aid for migrants over the course of a year, according to an audit released Sunday by the Independent Budget office.

Auditors, however, pointed out the final cost for the nearly 24,000 migrants — and counting — could change significantly.

"The total cost of city services provided to the newly arrived asylum seekers cannot be estimated with certainty, as the number of people arriving and remaining in the city continues to evolve," the audit states.

Adams previously said the migrant crisis could cost $1 billion. He declared a state of emergency in October as asylum seekers — mostly people escaping turmoil in Venezuela — inundated the city's shelters and arrived by the busload from Texas and other states with Republican governors intent on raising a political point about the situation at the U.S. border.

But the flow of migrants has slowed in recent weeks, in part because of President Joe Biden's administration changing immigration policies. The audit points out that it remains to be seen if the changes have a lasting impact.

"How these changes play out on a national level, and for New York City specifically, however, is yet to be fully seen," the audit states.

The audit estimated that shelter costs for migrants will total roughly $487 million. Education costs for school-aged children will be $48 million, the audit found.

Most costs will be borne by the city itself, although there is a chance Federal Emergency Management Agency funds could be tapped, the audit states.

"If the city does not receive additional federal or state assistance to help defray these costs, it has some reserves of its own that it could tap—but with a shaky economic and fiscal outlook, the city is counting on having those funds available to help close what are likely to be large future budget gaps," the audit states.

Read the full audit here.