Some migrants have mixed feelings about their situation in New York City.
On Monday, the New York Times published an article about some of the 55,000 migrants who are still sheltering in New York City. It concentrated on people living in hotels, converted office buildings, and tent dormitories built on Floyd Bennett Field.
At the Watson Hotel, Ingrid Henao, a Colombian mother, admitted to feeling guilty about living at the taxpayers’ expense.
“We are getting spoiled,” Henao admitted. “It was never my idea. I did not flee my country in the conditions that we did.”
Some migrants expressed fear while living in shelters, believing they would soon become targets of Trump administration raids.
“People are desperate to get out,” Nicolaza Criollo told The New York Times.
According to the New York Times, more than 225,000 migrants have arrived in the city since 2022, costing the city more than $6 billion to house.
However, the New York Times appeared to downplay criticism of the migration crisis.
“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,” according to the article.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams appears more willing to work 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 possible strategies.
“He genuinely cares about public safety and is putting politics aside. He wants to help ICE remove criminal threats from the streets. He wants to assist ICE in identifying potential national security threats. He wants to help ICE locate over 340,000 missing children, many of whom will be in the city. “What a fantastic meeting,” Homan said.