Mamdani wants another $1.2B for migrants in NYC under proposed budget

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to spend another $1.2 billion in this year’s budget proposal on migrants arriving in the Big Apple.

Mamdani’s budget plan notes that the number of asylum seekers under the city’s care has nearly halved from 68,660 at its peak in January 2024 to 30,813 last month.

“As of February 2026, there is only one remaining emergency shelter site being operated outside of the DHS system, exclusively serving single adults,” Mamdani’s budget plan notes.

The city spent a massive $3.75 billion on migrants in the fiscal year 2024 budget at the crisis’s height, and $8.11 billion between the 2023 and 2025 fiscal years.

The city estimates it will spend around $1.47 billion in the 2026 fiscal year, tipping the total over $10 billion over the last half-decade.