Illegal aliens accused of crimes not banned from taxpayer-funded NYC shelters, deputy mayor admits

New York City Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom recently admitted that the city does not ban illegal immigrants who are accused of crimes from residing at taxpayer-funded shelters.

During a press conference in city hall on Tuesday, Williams-Isom stated that being arrested does not bar someone from shelter accommodations despite the apparent rise in criminal activity at and around city-run shelters, the New York Post reported.

'The public has a right to know.'

“We don’t say that [you] can’t come back into the shelter because you’ve gotten arrested,” Williams-Isom admitted. “I’m sure that there’s a lot of arrests that have come from a lot of different groups that come here, especially groups that might not be able to work.”

“We want to connect people to their community-based organizations so that we can get them connected to work, get them out of shelters,” Williams-Isom continued. “We’ve been really proud that over 150,000 people have made their way out of the shelter so far.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ Chief of Staff Camille Joseph Varlack noted that individuals can be booted from taxpayer-funded shelters if they violate a code of conduct. However, the Post reported that such violations include only incidents that occur inside shelters, while committing illegal activity outside those spaces appears to have no impact on eligibility.

Police sources recently told the Post that in some New York City neighborhoods, such as Midtown Manhattan, approximately 75% of those arrested are illegal immigrants, Blaze News previously reported. The alleged criminals are being detained for a variety of offenses, including assault, robbery, and domestic violence.

An exact number is difficult for law enforcement to identify since the city’s sanctuary policies prevent the New York Police Department from tracking the immigration status of offenders.

A spokesperson for the NYPD told the Post, “Police officers are prohibited from asking about the immigration status of crime victims, witnesses, or suspects, and therefore the NYPD doesn’t track data pertaining to immigration statuses.”

Staten Island Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R) is attempting to uncover the full extent of criminal offenses committed by illegal immigrants but has accused the Adams administration of “stonewalling” her request for information, the Post reported.

Malliotakis submitted a request for statistics on the number of crimes committed in or around taxpayer-funded illegal immigrant shelters in 2023.

Specifically, her request asked for “statistics as to how many crimes were committed in or within a five-block radius of a City-run migrant shelter.”

“How many arrestees have listed a City-run shelter as their home address and what were their top charges during this same time period,” it stated. “Have you instructed the NYPD to track detailed records of incidents and or offenses involving migrants?”

According to Malliotakis, the NYPD informed her that the request could not be completed until November 15, which is 10 days after the election.

“The public has a right to know,” she said. “Either they’re stonewalling or there are many more crimes being committed by migrants than they can tabulate in a year. That’s ridiculous.”

An NYPD spokesperson told the Post that the department is currently working on the request.

On Tuesday morning, police officers responded to another report of violence at the controversial Randall’s Island shelter, which has become a hotspot for criminal activity. Most recently, Oswaldo Madrid-Verduo, 26, was accused of shoving two security guards and punching one.

During his arrest, he got into a scuffle with responding officers, resulting in one having a bloody nose, police reported.

Just last month, Madrid-Verduo was arrested for allegedly punching a security guard at the shelter, a police source told the Post.

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