Republican Comptroller candidate Joseph Hernandez stood at the State Capitol today, pledging not to sign any more state checks for illegal immigrants. Watch Hernandez’s remarks here.
Albany has committed $3.9 billion in state money for illegal immigrants since 2023, with $2.71 billion already spent, according to the Office of the State Comptroller’s Asylum Seeker Spending Report.
Hotels and shelters took the largest share at $2.16 billion. The state spent $316 million through the Division of Military and Naval Affairs to put the National Guard to work at migrant shelters. Another $137 million went to lawyers for asylum and work-permit filings, $40 million to resettlement, and $57 million to translation, security, transportation and other costs.
Nearly $1.2 billion more is still budgeted. That comes on top of hundreds of millions of dollars every year in state-funded Medicaid for people here illegally.
No state check goes out without the Comptroller’s signature. Tom DiNapoli signs them and posts the totals online. Hernandez will stop them. If his office finds anyone collecting state money who has a criminal record and is on the active federal detainer list, it will notify federal authorities immediately.
“Albany wrote a blank check while New Yorkers struggle to pay rent, buy groceries and keep up with property taxes,” Hernandez said. “As your Comptroller, I won’t sign it. Every payment that breaks state or federal immigration law gets rejected and sanctuary for criminals ends at the Comptroller’s office.”
Hernandez concluded, “As an immigrant myself, I stood in line for years to have the honor to be called an American. It is wrong for our tax dollars to be used on people who came here illegally and have not contributed to our society. “
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