President Donald Trump criticized immigration polices both in the US and abroad that involve housing migrants in “luxury hotels.”
Speaking aboard Air Force One after returning from a four-day trip to Scotland, Trump responded to a reporter’s question about the British government housing asylum seekers in hotels while their claims are processed. The reporter referenced criticisms in the UK and asked if the country needed its own version of “Alligator Alcatraz,” referencing the Florida Everglades migrant detention facility.
“They’re putting people in luxury hotels and other people that are working their a**** off are living from hand to mouth. They’re not living the same way,” Trump responded while on Air Force One. “I’ve looked at some of the hotels they’re using.”
He went on to criticize similar policies taking place in left-wing cities across the US.
“They put them in like the best hotels anywhere in the world,” Trump added. “Thousands of dollars a night, and other people are living out in the streets, including our veterans. They can’t get a room.”
One of the most prominent examples was the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, which opened as a shelter in May 2023 amid a surge in migrant arrivals that averaged around 4,000 per day. Between May 2023 and February 2025, the hotel housed 173,000 migrants before closing in June of this year. The hotel also faced problems, including gang activity and instances where migrants were forced to sleep outside after it reached capacity.
According to Fox News, New York City taxpayers have spent billions to house more than 232,000 migrants who have arrived since the spring of 2022.
