New York Hotels Housing Migrants Receiving Billions In Taxpayer Funds

(OurNationNews.com) Taxpayers are funding New York hotel room shelters for illegal immigrants to the tune of $1.98 billion.

With the continued surge of immigrants into the city without enough resources available, the government has relied on hotels converting their rooms into migrant shelters. 80% of the funds spent on housing illegal migrants goes to the hotels. So far, the immigration problem has cost the city $4.88 billion.

The Row NYC hotel is receiving $5.13 million per month in its contract with the city to provide migrant housing. The Crowne Plaza JFK has a contract to receive $2 million per month. The average cost of a room per night is $156 and some of the hotels are receiving as much as $300 per room each night.

While the hotels are still staying in business, the illegal immigrants are taking up space that would typically be filled by tourists traveling to the most populous city in the country. There has been a significant downfall in the economy for business owners in the neighborhoods as tourists spend more money than illegal immigrants.

Business owners have cried foul that their tax dollars are funding immigrant housing at the expense of their own revenue. Joann Ariola, a Republican Councilwoman, said the hotel contracts with the city are draining the economy rather than providing a financial boost to the surrounding neighborhoods.

The city’s hotel industry created 21,000 new rooms from the years of 2015 to 2019. After the pandemic decimated the economy for businesses, the hotel industry was saved by Mayor de Blasio’s decision to house immigrants in the vacant hotels. There are now 16,000 New York hotel rooms that are housing migrants instead of tourists.

Interest in traveling has increased nearly back to the level it was before the pandemic in 2020. The average cost of a hotel room in New York for tourists is $301 as a result of supply and demand. Taxpayer funds being used to house illegal immigrants has propped up the hotel industry at the expense of tourists and local businesses.