The Office of the State Comptroller has created this tool to document State and City emergency spending related to people seeking asylum. The information will be updated monthly. Data are available for download below.
State Spending
The Mid-Year Update to the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2023-24 Enacted Budget Financial Plan includes $1.9 billion in planned spending that is expected to occur over two fiscal years for emergency spending related to people seeking asylum in the United States.
Emergency spending for asylum seekers totaled $367.1 million through November 30, 2023. These figures reflect the latest amounts and purposes identified by Executive agencies as related to emergency spending for asylum seekers. These figures only include spending specifically coded by agencies as spending related to asylum seekers.
Figure 1 – SFY 2023-24 Spending by Agency
(through month ending)
Note: Spending from April 1, 2023 through November 30, 2023.
Figure 2 – SFY 2023-24 Spending by Activity and State Agency
(through November 30, 2023)
Note: Spending from April 1, 2023 through November 30, 2023.
New York City Spending
Through November 30, 2023, the City of New York had recorded expenditures of $1.47 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, and $951 million in FY 2024. The largest spending is for payments to NYC Health + Hospitals (H+H) to operate Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers (HERRCs) and a central intake center, followed by the Departments of Homeless Services and Social Services for emergency shelter costs.
The City updated its cost projections in its FY 2024 November Budget Modification and Financial Plan to $4.7 billion in FY 2024, $6.1 billion in FY 2025, $2 billion for FY 2026 and $1 billion in FY 2027.
Figure 3 – New York City Asylum Seeker Expenses by Agency, FY 2023 and FY 2024
(through November 30, 2023)
Note: New York City fiscal year is from July 1 to June 30.
Other Resources
State Executive Order Declaring a Disaster Emergency
Executive Order No. 28
Executive Order No. 28.1
Executive Order No. 28.2
Executive Order No. 28.3
Executive Order No. 28.4
Executive Order No. 28.5
Executive Order No. 28.6
Executive Order No. 28.7
State Contracts
Executive Order No. 28 declared a disaster emergency in the State of New York and temporarily suspended competitive procurement requirements and pre-audit review by the Office of the State Comptroller for contracts and contract amendments related to the emergency. Therefore, the Office of the State Comptroller is unable to identify with certainty all of the contract transactions entered into by the State to provide emergency spending for goods and services for asylum seekers. To enhance transparency, the Comptroller has advanced a bill (A7404/S6941) requiring State agencies to publicly post contracts and certain information related to the contracts exempted from review by the Office of the State Comptroller.