The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into the funding and management of New York City hotels operating as shelters for migrants, according to a copy of a federal subpoena sent to a Manhattan hotel.
Federal prosecutors sent a subpoena to the Hotel Chandler in Midtown on Wednesday, requesting information related to the migrant shelter program and “a list of full names of aliens currently residing at Hotel Chandler,” including nationality, dates of birth and identification numbers.
The subpoena requested testimony and evidence from the hotel related to “an alleged violation” of federal immigration law. It asked the hotel for the names of entities and individuals responsible for the “funding and management of the illegal immigrant/migrant shelter program,” as well as any contracts or agreements related to it.
It was unclear why prosecutors sent a subpoena to the Chandler, a hotel on East 31st Street that was converted into a homeless shelter years ago but does not operate as a shelter for migrants.
The investigation appears focused at least in part on the management and funding of hotels acting as shelters, but its full scope was unclear as of Wednesday, as was whether other hotels had received subpoenas.
The grand jury subpoena was issued by the office of the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. A spokesman for the office, Nicholas Biase, referred questions to the Department of Justice in Washington. A spokesman there declined to comment on what he said was “an ongoing criminal investigation,” adding that he could not discuss the scope or contours of the inquiry.
New York City, which is housing about 43,000 migrants in shelters across the city, including dozens of converted hotels, had not received a subpoena as of Wednesday, according to an official briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.
Liz Garcia, a spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Adams, declined to comment, saying, “We cannot comment on any type of federal investigation.”
The Guardian first reported on Wednesday that a Manhattan hotel, which they did not name, had received a subpoena.
The city’s migrant shelters have been criticized and scrutinized by the Trump administration, which has made New York City, the country’s largest sanctuary jurisdiction, a target of its immigration crackdown.
The city entered into multimillion-dollar contracts with more than 100 hotels as it struggled to house the more than 230,000 migrants who have arrived in the city seeking shelter since early 2022. Republicans have long decried the use of hotels as shelters to house migrants as wasteful spending of taxpayer funding.
Last month, the Trump administration abruptly clawed back $80 million in federal funds from the city’s bank accounts that was meant to cover some expenses associated with paying hotels to shelter migrants.
In doing so, the federal government singled out the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown, which the city had converted into its main processing center for migrants. The Trump administration depicted it as a safe haven for migrant gangs. Shortly after, the city announced it would shut down the Roosevelt Hotel by June, citing a sharp decline in the number of migrants arriving in the city.
William K. Rashbaum contributed reporting.