US Justice Department investigating New York migrant hotels, reports say

The US Justice Department on Wednesday opened an investigation into the operation of New York City hotels as migrant shelters, according to media reports.

The Guardian newspaper and the New York Times, both saying they obtained a copy of a federal subpoena sent to a New York hotel that houses migrants, reported prosecutors are seeking a full list of names of migrants staying there.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the investigation, nor did the office of New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

The Times reported that the target of the subpoena was the Hotel Chandler in Manhattan.

A phone number listed for that hotel did not ring through and no email was listed on the hotel’s website.

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The Times reported the subpoena requested testimony and evidence from the hotel related to “an alleged violation” of immigration law and for the names of individuals and entities responsible for the “funding and management of the illegal immigrant/migrant shelter program.”

New York and other cities have come under fire from the administration of President Donald Trump and other Republicans for their receipt of millions of dollars in federal funds to defray the costs of housing recently arrived migrants.

Earlier this month, a US judge declined to order the Trump administration to return to New York City $80.5 million in grants it had pulled back to help cover housing costs. New York state is bound by a decades-old consent decree from a class-action lawsuit to provide shelter for those without homes.

As more migrants have arrived, a range of approaches to housing them, from tents to relocation to other parts of the state, has been tried.

New York’s Mayor Adams, a Democrat, separately faces criminal corruption charges brought last September under the Biden administration.

Trump’s Department of Justice wants to dismiss that case, in part to free Adams to help Trump crack down on illegal immigration.