National Guard soldiers’ mission to help New York City’s overburdened migrant shelters will be “completed” next week, The Post has learned.
The deployment of New York Army National Guard troops — which began in 2022 — will stop assisting city officials in shelters starting Dec. 18 as the migrant crisis cools off, state officials revealed Thursday.
All troops in migrant shelters across the state will be sent home by March 31, according to orders obtained by The Post that note “mission completed.”
“At a time when New York City was overwhelmed with newly arrived migrants, the state deployed approximately 2000 members of the National Guard to provide logistical and operational support,” a statement from the state’s Department of Military and Naval Affairs reads.
“Beginning in August, when the number of migrants in shelters began to decline, the National Guard deployment decreased.”
The deployment’s end is separate from the influx of soldiers in the city’s subway system tasked with cutting down transit crime — a mission that will continue, officials said.
“My National Guard and my State Police — I just want to send a message out — they’re busy protecting New Yorkers in the subways and keeping guns off the streets,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Thursday. “They’re kind of busy right now.”
More than 200,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since 2022, stretching the city’s resources as officials sought to shelter, feed and provide resources to the newcomers.
Arrivals in the Big Apple have dramatically slowed in recent months, prompting a steady trickle of migrant shelter closures, including the coming shuttering of the massive site at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field.
Officials in recent months have discussed pulling the National Guard from city migrant shelters.
Those discussions led to the order revealed Thursday.
Nearly 57,000 migrants remain in city care, according to the latest numbers from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.