Some migrants have mixed feelings over their situation in New York City.
On Monday, the New York Times released a report on some of the 55,000 migrants who are still sheltering in New York City. It focused specifically on people living in hotels, reconverted office buildings and tent dormitories constructed at Floyd Bennett Field.
At the Watson Hotel, one Colombian mother, Ingrid Henao, admitted to feeling guilty for living at the taxpayers’ expense.
“We’re getting spoiled,” Henao said. “This was never my idea. I didn’t leave my country under the conditions we fled for this.”
Some migrants expressed fear while living in their shelters, believing they will soon become targets for raids under the Trump administration.
“People are desperate to get out,” Nicolaza Criollo told the New York Times.
The NYT reported more than 225,000 migrants have come into the city since 2022, costing New York City more than $6 billion to house them.Â
However, the NYT appeared to downplay criticism of the migrant crisis.Â
“Despite critics who blamed migrants for draining public resources, over half of the migrants the city has sheltered since early 2022 have exited the system, and the number entering has been in decline,” it wrote.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams has seemed more open to collaborating with incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan to begin deporting illegal immigrants. Homan told Sean Hannity earlier this month that he had already spoken with Adams about potential strategies.
“He really cares about public safety, and he’s putting politics aside. He wants to help ICE take criminal threats off the street. He wants to help ICE look for national security threats. He wants to help ICE find over 340,000 missing children, which many are going to be in the city. So a great meeting,” Homan said.Â