The supplemental border bill’s spectacular failure in Congress has wrought many devastating consequences. Among them is the U.S. government’s inability to effectively move migrants away from the overwhelmed larger cities to other parts of the country that would happily receive them. Non-governmental organizations and the government must work together to send migrants to such cities, ensuring adequate resettlement and employment options while saving taxpayer dollars.
For years, millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent transferring migrants to select locations. Between April 2022 and November 2023, Texas alone spent $86.1 million to bus 66,200 migrants and asylum seekers from the border to these six cities: Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C (four of which rank among the most expensive in the country). Arizona spent $5.7 million to transport 26,513 asylum seekers to these same cities between January and November 2023, and Florida allocated $12 million to do so in FY2022-23.
Due to overcrowding and high housing prices, these six cities are often not even the final destination. After their arrival, more money is spent transporting migrants elsewhere — sometimes even back to the same state they came from. In 2023, Denver spent $4.3 million to help migrants and asylum seekers travel to their final destination — which, for several hundred individuals, was Texas. New York City opened a Reticketing Center to provide free plane tickets for travel to any location, including back to Florida and Texas.
Sending people to only six U.S. cities with some of the highest cost of living is logistically and fiscally unsustainable.
We can curb this wasteful trend by relocating migrants and asylum seekers to a broader range of locations. This can be facilitated by an increase in federal funding. The most recent “dead on arrival” supplemental bill proposed that $933 million be transferred to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Shelter and Services Program, one of FEMA’s grant programs for managing migration. Through the Shelter and Services Program, grants can be awarded to entities providing shelter and services, including transportation, to migrants and asylum seekers released from DHS custody at the southern border. Funds can be used for various types of transportation assistance to migrants as they arrive or after they have been initially resettled in a city to travel to their final destination.
But without purposeful coordination, migrants will continue to be thoughtlessly shuffled throughout the country. Many mid-size and more affordable cities indicate they would welcome the arrival of migrants. Salt Lake City, for example, is a Certified Welcoming City that has created policies and programs fostering immigrant inclusion in civic, social and economic life. Utah established two public-private funds to support refugee resettlement in the state: the Afghan Community Fund, founded in 2021 to support the resettlement of Afghans, and the Refugee Services Fund, which helps refugees access “family-sustaining” employment in the state.
In February 2023, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox joined Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb in saying that declining birth rates and earlier retirements will amplify the job gap crisis and that immigrants, refugees and asylees are necessary to “help build strong communities,” underscoring the economic case for welcoming new community residents arriving through asylum, refugee resettlement and other immigration pathways.
Topeka, Kan., a city of about 125,000 people, is also developing economic incentives to entice Latinos and other immigrants. The Choose Topeka program provides work-authorized individuals with up to $15,000 if they rent or buy homes in the city and are employed by local businesses that partner with the program. Many of these business partners are recruiting Hispanic workers. For example, the Greater Topeka Partnership economic development group has launched marketing campaigns to attract immigrants, specifically Spanish speakers.
The Office of Global Michigan was formed to grow the state’s economy by investing in and recruiting foreigners with valuable skills. Two of its programs, the Refugee and Humanitarian Parolee Resettlement Fund and the Newcomer Rental Subsidy support refugees and humanitarian parolees with essential social services and employment access. Other states with Rust Belt cities, like Dayton, Erie and Pittsburgh, are similarly working to attract migrants and foreign talent to address their falling population. St. Louis is also considering taking migrants from Chicago to help address its declining population and spur economic growth.
Cities across the country indicate they want and need to grow; for this, welcoming work-authorized people to live, work and raise families in their cities is vital. Meanwhile, the largest U.S. cities are struggling under the weight of too much migration and are spending millions of dollars annually in ultimately misguided strategies to alleviate the problem. With some thoughtful planning and coordination, we can help overwhelmed cities, answer the demands of smaller cities looking to attract new residents and help migrants seeking a better life in a welcoming community.
Kristie De Pena is senior vice president for policy and director of immigration policy at the Niskanen Center. Claire Holba is immigration policy analyst at he Niskanen Center.