NYC's Roosevelt Hotel migrant center faces shutdown after criticism from Musk and Trump
Major Eric Adams informed the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City is set to close as a migrant shelter.
The Roosevelt Hotel Migrant Center had been functioning as a shelter for immigrants since May, 2023. As of date, Major Eric Adams announced that the hotel will no longer house migrants by June of this year. Billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump heavily criticized the Asylum Seeker Arrival Center at the Roosevelt Hotel. The place was often a target for the duo.
The Roosevelt migrant center is currently housing 2,852 migrants, and is one of the fifty shelters that New York has closed or announced it will shut down. One of the reasons is that the number of new migrant arrivals has decreased. This move can be viewed as the last step on the New York City’s plan of response to the immigrant crisis.
Backlash from President Donald Trump and Elon Musk
The decision to close the Roosevelt Hotel migrant center was announced shortly after the Trump administration cited the hotel as a key factor in its move to override $80 million in federal fundings destined to New York City for shelter operations. On Monday, New York filed a lawsuit against the federal government, stated this funding cancellation was a political move and called it a “money grab.”
In the response, officials also disputed the Trump administration’s claim that the Roosevelt Hotel served as the headquarters of a Venezuelan gang, arguing this piece of information was misleading and unjustified. Elon Musk, the billionaire advisor to Trump who operate the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), added his two cents and stated that the New York funds "violated the law."
Roosevelt Hotel Migrant Center faces imminent shutdown
The city's shelter system was already suffering, as it struggled to accommodate a big influx of migrants, and it got worse with the abrupt funds' withdrawal. New York has spent more than $7 billion to house, feed and provide services to migrants since the year of 2022, as the city authorities report.
During the height of the crisis, the city received an average of 4,000 arrivals each week. That number has sharply decreased to about 350 registrants per week. Migrant families staying at the Roosevelt will be relocated to other shelters, but it was unclear if the city would open a new immigrant center.