Is the sacrifice worth it?
New York City is facing a big problem with housing about 65,000 asylum seekers who have come from the southern border. One issue is that many of these people are now sleeping outside.
Each evening, a camp sets up on Randall’s Island, where one of the city’s largest shelters is located. Dozens of tents appear along the riverbank. As the sun sets behind Manhattan, these migrants cook food over small fires, use buckets for showers, and sleep under the stars on flattened cardboard boxes. When it rains, they move their belongings under overpasses and sleep there with the noise of passing cars.
Impact on Street Homelessness and Politics
The influx of many migrants has aggravated the long-standing issue of street homelessness in the city and has become a major political issue. Many illegal immigrants, who came seeking better opportunities, endure severe hardships, and some even have lost their lives due to violent crimes. Critics of illegal immigration argue that billions of dollars allocated for essential projects are being diverted to handle the additional burdens created by illegal immigration.
Strain on City Budget and Resources
Initially, democratic Mayor of New York city Eric Adams, extended welcoming hand to illegal immigrants who were sent in buses by governors of southern border states. This has put a strain on the city’s budget and increased concerns among residents. Almost 100,000 asylum seekers have come to New York City, and with no end in sight, the city expects to spend more than $12 billion through 2025. As of last week, well over 200,000 immigrants had arrived since the spring of 2022, with more than 65,000 still in the city’s shelter system.
The situation is similar in many large cities in the US, where public dissent has been growing. When the Biden administration came into power in 2021, laws regarding illegal border crossing were relaxed. As a result, several million illegal immigrants entered the country. With the upcoming elections, this topic has become a major point of debate, as candidates discuss how best to address and manage the ongoing crisis. While Democratic party has been struggling to calm the voters, Republican candidate Donald Trump has been advocating of mass deportation of Illegal immigrants if he becomes the president in 2025. Though he has not yet disclosed how he plans to handle the situation with millions of undocumented immigrants, the public has welcomed the idea positively.
