A newly publicized letter from the State of New York on behalf of Governor Kathy Hochul regarding the migrant crisis underscores and acknowledges a long list of conflicts the County of Rockland has raised since this entire issue first surfaced back in May.
The letter, which was a response to the City of New York’s demands for help from the state, included several criticisms – which the County has echoed – about the lack of action and planning for a crisis that first began back in Spring of 2022 including:
- Ample beds still available in the City of New York’s shelter system.
- Numerous state-owned properties identified for housing in October of 2022.
- The lack of legal authority to extend their Sanctuary City obligation to provide shelter to other counties & localities.
- Lack of coordination and communication with localities and counties regarding temporary shelter outside of the City of New York.
- Impeding on fostering productive relationships with neighboring municipalities by sending migrants with little or no notice, resulting in litigation statewide.
Within 60 days of the City of New York’s decompression plan surfacing, 38 counties and three towns across the state declared States of Emergencies to shield their constituents from taking on the responsibilities of New York City’s Sanctuary City declaration.
“All of these emergency orders were issued due to legitimate concerns being raised by the majority of residents and more than 50% of counties across New York State. Conditions, infrastructure, and resources across this state vary including here in Rockland which has one of the lowest unemployment rates across the state and a severe housing crisis that organic migration is complicating and compounding,” explained County Executive Ed Day. “I appreciate Governor Kathy Hochul for finally acknowledging the many criticisms municipalities such as my administration have been raising for months about this poorly planned decompression strategy.”
The letter also underscored the City can more effectively provide these individuals with essential services such as public transportation and social services and criticized Mayor Eric Adams for failing to prioritize legal services for migrants to obtain asylum and work authorization.
“Constituents are overwhelmingly opposed to housing migrants, all-expenses-paid, for up to a year, while our own homeless and low-income residents struggle to make ends meet. I once again urge Governor Hochul to team up with the Governors across the country and Federal lawmakers to put an end to incentivized illegal immigration that isn’t helping people, but rather hurting people,” concluded Day.