Illegal migrants flooding the US are contributing to what could be the highest number of homeless in the country since the data was first recorded, with cities draining their coffers to fund shelters, a report says.
At least 550,000 people were reported homeless in January — the same month the US notched the highest number ever of border crossings, according to an analysis by the Wall Street Journal.
The disturbing homeless figure was at least 10% more than January 2023, a year that had the highest overall annual tally since 2007, when the government started reporting its own figures, the outlet noted.
This past January’s tally will presumably end up even higher, since not every city, including the Big Apple, which has a significant homeless population, has reported its data to the government yet.
Given the trend, the country is on track to surpass 2023’s overall dismal historic US homeless figure of 653,000, the report suggested.
A homeless woman holds a child.in Massachusetts, where more than half the people living in its family shelters are migrants, the Wall Street Journal found. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/USA TODAY NETWORK
A makeshift shelter sits under the FDR Drive on the Lower East Side in Manhattan. Helayne Seidman
The hordes of homeless have swelled along with the record numbers of migrants illegally crossing the border and then claiming asylum and being bussed to cities such as New York, Chicago, Boston and Denver, straining public coffers and bringing crime and gang violence to the streets.
Reports from Massachusetts revealed that migrants accounted for almost half of the more than 7,000 families in the state’s family shelters in January. The state expects to spend more than $1 billion housing migrants this fiscal year, the Journal reported.
A migrant surge led to an increase in homeless families in the US, data suggests. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/USA TODAY NETWORK
The homeless problem outside Penn Station in the heart of Manhattan can be severe. Stephen Yang
Migrants also accounted for more than seven out of 10 homeless people in the city of Chicago, whose counts tripled to more than 18,800 people on the streets and in shelters that month.
In Denver, where migrant gangs run roughshod, fresh waves of outsiders caused a staggering 42% increase in the city’s homeless population.
Migrant border crossings and busings have dropped since reaching their peak earlier this year.
Some US cities struggle daily to shelter a growing numbers of unhoused people. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/USA TODAY NETWORK
The report also blames rising fentanyl use, soaring housing and rent prices and the end of pandemic-era tax credits for potentially pushing families out of their homes and onto the streets.
California has been struggling to shelter the largest homeless population in the United States — even as Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom pressures cities to clear out encampments.
That state had more than 180,000 homeless in 2023, according to the most recent report from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD hasn’t released its official report for 2024.
The Journal expects its own counts, which are conducted with the help of 250 organizations nationwide, to be much higher — and more accurate.
“[HUD estimates] are widely considered to be undercounts that can be swayed by how many volunteers show up or severe weather,” the Journal reported.
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Publish date : 2024-09-22 10:06:00
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