What federal funds or reimbursements has NYC received for migrant costs since 2022?
Executive summary
New York City has received multiple streams of federal migrant-related funds since 2022, primarily through FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program (SSP), but the amounts disbursed to the City are small relative to its claimed costs and have been subject to delays, clawbacks, and bureaucratic restrictions [1] [2] [3]. City and independent fiscal offices emphasize that federal reimbursements have been insufficient, administratively cumbersome, and in some cases reversed by the federal government [4] [5].
1. What the federal pot is: FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program and SSP allocations
Congress created and Congress-funded programs administered by FEMA (initially under EFSP-H and later the Shelter and Services Program) to help localities that shelter migrants; these SSP awards can be paid either in advance or by reimbursement to governments and nonprofits providing services to migrants [1]. ReliefWeb and FEMA documentation indicate a formal SSP allocation stream that cities can tap, and New York City was allocated $145 million under SSP — a figure that is explicitly less than one-tenth of the City’s own FY2023 expenditures on migrants [1].
2. What the City actually received — notable disbursements and the clawback
Reporting and City statements show that New York publicly announced receipt of federal reimbursements covering specific periods — for example, officials said payments totaling roughly $81 million covered reimbursements for November 2023 through October 2024 [2]. Separately, the City alleges FEMA disbursed $80,481,861.42 on February 4, 2025, and that the federal government then clawed back that sum without notice on February 11, 2025, prompting a federal lawsuit from the City’s Law Department [3]. FactCheck also noted a roughly $59 million payment that included about $19 million for hotel stays as part of federal migrant-related payments to New York [2].
3. What’s been requested but not fully delivered: big asks and outstanding claims
The Adams administration formally requested $650 million from FEMA in March 2023 to reimburse city expenses between July 2022 and February 2023, illustrating that larger federal reimbursements have been sought [6]. The City’s budget and Comptroller analysis show larger flows of state reimbursement are still outstanding — $1.99 billion of an anticipated $3.25 billion state reimbursement through FY2026 remains unresolved — and the Adopted Budget did not add new Federal funding for FY2025–FY2026, underlining the gap between local spending and federal disbursements [5].
4. Constraints, paperwork, and why federal dollars haven’t matched claims
City and Comptroller advocacy highlight bureaucratic hurdles — stringent documentation requirements, including A-number requirements and caps on hotel costs — that have constrained the City’s ability to draw down federal funds, prompting pleas for DHS/FEMA flexibility from municipal fiscal officers [4]. ReliefWeb and other reporting document that SSP funds are modest relative to municipal spending, often delayed, and subject to reimbursement rules and reporting burdens that slow or limit cash flow to city agencies and nonprofits [1].
5. Competing narratives and political context
Federal disbursements have become politicized: the Mayor’s office and city fiscal officers portray federal funding as inadequate and administratively hostile, while federal actions such as the alleged clawback have been framed by the City as unlawful, leading to litigation [3]. Conversely, commentators and some national figures have criticized how funds were used or characterized payments (for example, contentious claims about “luxury hotels”), disputes that fact-checkers have pushed back on by citing program structure and itemized reimbursements [2].
6. Bottom line: limited, fragmented federal reimbursements with significant gaps
In sum, documented federal assistance to New York City since 2022 includes SSP allocations (notably a $145 million allocation identified in reporting), targeted FEMA reimbursements in the tens of millions (payments around $59 million and $81 million are reported), and a disputed FEMA disbursement of about $80.48 million that the City says was clawed back — all of which fall far short of the billions the City reports spending and the larger state reimbursement negotiations that remain unresolved [1] [2] [3] [5]. Independent analyses and city tracking note a federal total that has not closed the gap on local costs and that bureaucratic limits and litigation make the federal contribution unstable and incomplete [7] [4].