New York is still having a hard time dealing with the illegal immigrant crisis. As tens of thousands more asylum seekers and illegal immigrants arrive in the state, the government continues to struggle for solutions. But some lawmakers have proposed an idea: Raising taxes to take care of those coming to New York City and other parts of the state.
As New York City is being forced to cut budgets to various departments to cover the cost of housing the individuals coming into the state, socialist state lawmakers wish to have New Yorkers pay more to address the issue.
Socialist state lawmakers are itching to impose new tax increases to cover the ever-increasing cost of migrants in the Big Apple — insisting that forcing New Yorkers to pay even more is the only way out of the mushrooming crisis.
Two state senators told The Post new taxes were on the table, while their grassroots cadres have buzzed on social media.
“We should increase taxes because it’s economically just policy to offset all costs for our state to function,” said state Sen. Julia Salazar (D-Brooklyn).
“I’d say that even if our city and state hadn’t seen an increase in migrants seeking asylum, this moment makes it all the more important for the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes.”
Salazar noted that in 2021 the state passed a slew of tax increases on high earners — which she lamented would sunset instead of becoming permanent.
While Gov. Kathy Hochul has indicated that she is not considering any new taxes at the moment. If she has a change of heart, the few Republicans in the state government would be able to do little to stop it.
This development comes as New York City is spending billions of dollars to take in the people who are coming to the state.
New York City’s migrant crisis will cost the city more than $4billion this fiscal year if the situation continues – as mayor Eric Adams warned the influx of asylum seekers could ‘destroy’ the city.
Despite mayor Adams’ cries for help from the state and federal government, the city has not received aid to cover the extra costs, so the $4.7billion would come from the city’s budget. That amount is equal to the budgets for the city’s sanitation, fire and parks departments combined.
More than 110,000 asylum seekers have arrived in the city since the Spring of 2022, with over currently 10,000 arriving every month, and about 1,000 every single day.
There are now nearly 60,000 migrants in the city’s care, with about 21,000 new migrant children starting school this year. As the school year kicked off on Thursday, some schools were forced to turn away students as the classrooms overflowed.
City officials have said they expect the number asylum seeker population to reach nearly 33,980 households this fiscal year.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has requested help from the state and federal governments on numerous occasions. But so far, his pleas have gone largely ignored, which means the city is footing the bill for the illegal immigrant crisis.
Adams has tried turning up the heat on the federal government over the past few weeks, noting that the city needs more help. He said during a town hall last Wednesday:
Let me tell you something, New Yorkers. Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don’t see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City. Destroy New York City.
