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Biden has already requested $1.4 billion in emergency
supplemental funding, but the mayors claim without additional
funding they will need to “cut essential city services.”
“To address this crisis without further delay, we are requesting
an urgent meeting with you to directly discuss ways we can work
with your administration to avoid large numbers of additional
asylum seekers being brought to our cities with little to no
coordination, support, or resources,” the mayors wrote in their
letter.
According to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary
Alejandro Mayorkas, more than 600,000 individuals entered the
United States in fiscal year 2023 without being intercepted by
Customs and Border Patrol, while another 900,000 were
intercepted or turned themselves in to enter under humanitarian
parole and pursue asylum applications.
Mayorkas' estimate was substantially lower than data first
reported by The Center Square of nearly 770,000 gotaways along
the southwest border alone in fiscal 2023. The total estimate is
expected to be closer to one million. There were at least nearly
4 million illegal border crossers in fiscal 2023, the highest in
U.S. history.
The signatories note Denver is spending $2 million per week on
migrant shelter, New York City has spent $1.7 billion, and
Chicago has spent over $320 million.
New York City, which has faced the brunt of the arrivals, may
soon be facing reductions in state funding that offset 30% of
migrant-related costs as Gov. Kathy Hochul seeks to close a $4.3
billion budget shortfall. Chicago faces a budget gap of $538
million, almost half of which is from migrant spending. Denver
has reduced guaranteed shelter for migrants to 37 days for
families and 14 days for individuals due to further resource
strain. Los Angeles, meanwhile, has not faced a similar level of
influx because, as the New York Times reports, the city “no
longer attracts as many immigrants as it once did” due to the
cost of living and other quality-of-life and opportunity
challenges.
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