Donald Trump's Department of Justice has launched an investigation into New York hotels housing migrants without documentation.

Addressing a joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump made several claims about federal spending that he described as wasteful — including the assertion that his administration had identified $59 million supposedly spent on New York City hotel rooms to house immigrants living in the country illegally.

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected New York City’s request to temporarily prevent the Trump administration from reclaiming over $80 million in federal reimbursement funds originally allocated for migrant shelter and services.

Prosecutors asked for a list of names of “aliens” living at a Manhattan hotel. The city houses about 43,000 migrants in shelters, including dozens of converted hotels.

The U.S. 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,