The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into hotels in New York City that were accused of operating as shelters for illegal aliens on taxpayers’ dime.
The investigation centers around the funding and management of the program, The New York Times reported.
CBS News reported that federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York sent subpoenas to multiple hotels involved in the program, including the Roosevelt Hotel and the Stewart Hotel.
A third hotel, the Hotel Chandler, was also subpoenaed, but it has not been accused of housing illegal aliens.
The New York Post reported that a nearby hotel, the Candler Building, has been used as an illegal alien shelter and that prosecutors might have issued a subpoena to the wrong hotel.
Investigators sought evidence and testimony from the hotels over “an alleged violation” of federal immigration law, the subpoenas said.
Hotels were asked for the names of entities and people who were responsible for the “funding and management of the illegal immigrant/migrant shelter program,” the subpoenas said, according to the Times.
The subpoenas also sought all contracts related to the program.
The report said New York City has not yet been subpoenaed in the investigation.
Nearly a quarter million illegal aliens came to New York City during President Joe Biden’s term, which saw more than 10 million illegal aliens come into the U.S.
The staggering explosion in illegal aliens coming to the city spurred Democratic Mayor Eric Adams to spend $7 billion to take care of them.
President Donald Trump has led the most historic crackdown on illegal immigration in U.S. history since coming into office, with border officials recording only 8,347 illegal aliens crossing the southwest border between ports of entry during his first full month in office — by far the lowest number in history.
In contrast, under Biden, there were 249,785 arrests made on the southern border during his most chaotic month for immigration, December 2023. There were countless days under Biden when more illegal aliens entered the country in a single day than entered during Trump’s entire first full month in office in his second term.
