In a recent press conference, Mayor Eric Adams shared that the city of New York is set to cut the budget for police, schools and the sanitation department as the illegal immigration crisis continues to cost the city billions. 

“For months you’ve heard me talk about the fiscal challenges our city is facing as the costs of the asylum seeker humanitarian crisis have skyrocketed,” he shared in a message to New Yorkers. He shares that illegal immigration has placed great strain on the city’s budget sharing that budget cuts would be necessary to keep up with the thousands of illegal immigrants who continue to make their way to New York.

According to the New York Post, “The NYPD’s budget of $5.6 billion will be cut by $132 million next fiscal year,”. With this budget cut comes the axing of five police academy classes with local reports also stating, “roughly 4,500 officers are expected to leave their ranks within the next 18 months.”

The force is expected to be reduced to just 29,000 police officers by the end of 2025, the lowest levels since the crime epidemic of the 80’s and 90’s. The budget cut will also affect the New York Fire Department, who will see a $74 million cut to their 2014 budget. 

The Department of Education is also being hit with a $547 million cut to their 2024 budget, the Sanitation Department’s budget will be cut by $32 million and the budget for art and history museums throughout New York will also be cut by almost $6 million. 

These cuts come as almost 100,000 illegal immigrants have made their way to New York City since just January of 2023. Adams, who last year shared that the city had already spent $1 billion for the fiscal year of 2022 on illegal immigrants, has since updated that number sharing that the city is projected to spend around $12 billion on illegals over the next three years. 

Adams has been pleading with the federal government for extra assistance and has even made a statement that New York will be “decimated” as they continue to be hit with upwards of 10,000 illegal immigrants per month.

Reports from local migrant shelters and hotels have shared how shelters are overrun with New York Governor, Kathy Hochul, warning migrants not to come to the city as it was “at capacity.” Hochul and Adams have also been at the forefront of trying to get New York’s “right to shelter” law overturned as migrants have continued to flood into the city. 

Despite this spiraling crisis, illegal immigrants continue to make their way to the city of New York to take advantage of the city’s “sanctuary status” that allows illegals to live in the city without fear of deportation. Several other government programs like IDNYC are also available to illegal migrants, allowing them to gain access to a government-issued ID which allows them access to things such as health benefits, and affordable housing and can even help one open a bank account at select institutions.