Across the United States, there are a number of sanctuary cities dealing with the migrant crisis at the moment as a result of increasing temperatures, and a lack of resources. As a result, the federal spending bill is said to include 800 million dollars in grants allocated for sanctuary cities. The funding is necessary in order to be able to pay for expenses such as food, shelter, transportation, basic health and first aid, COVID-19 testing, and other supportive services for immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S.
One of the major sanctuary cities included in this federal bill is New York City, a place that is struggling to provide for thousands of migrants arriving from the southern border. According to their mayor, Eric Adams, the announcement of hundreds of millions of dollars in more federal money to assist asylum seekers is encouraging, and we anticipate getting the resources we need in New York City.
Along with New York which is said to receive a great chunk of the budget, other cities including Chicago and Washington D.C. which have a great number of settling immigrants will receive aid as well. Among these cities, the money will be distributed through grants that are competitive and open to city applications. The funds provided to these cities will go to FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter program, which provides food and shelter to areas that have had to cope with an influx of asylum seekers. The Emergency Food and Shelter program now has 800 million dollars which is a 433 percent increase from the 150 million dollars it received the previous year.