New York City Mayor Eric Adams sent a bus of migrants to a suburb north of the city to deal with the impacts of illegal immigration.
The new strategy is part of Adam’s plan to house 61,000 illegal immigrants who have claimed asylum and are living in his city. Some counties have taken legal steps to prevent Adams from busing the migrants into their towns.
“We are coordinating, explaining to our colleagues in the state that this is a statewide issue,” said Adams at an unrelated press conference on May 11.
An estimated 40 to 60 male migrants seeking asylum in the United States were bused to Newburg, about 70 miles north of New York City. The Orange County town has approximately 10,000 residents. They will be housed at the Crossroads Hotel, which was initially decorated with posters with the word "welcome" printed in multiple languages.
“They have a great set up inside. There’s a lot of great support in there,” said Orange County Legislator Kevindaryan Lujanto New 12. “I think the whole point of their stay here for these four months is to get them to their working permit so they can lawfully work here in the United States.”
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, a Republican, urged Mayor Adams to delay transporting the migrants until county officials received more information about the plan and the services that will be required.
“We’ve had some very heated conversations between the mayor and myself,” said Newhaus while speaking to Politico on May 11. “Nothing nasty, but I said, ‘Look it, this can be a real security problem if you bring these folks up here and we have zero information.’”
Elected leaders in Rockland County have voiced their opposition to Adams' plan to send 340 single migrants to their county.
At a press conference earlier this week, Rockland County Executive Ed Day compared the plan to "throwing people out to the middle of the ocean who can't swim and saying 'go to shore.'"
"We are not equipped to humanely assist these individuals, which eventually we're going to have to do," said Day, per ABC 7. He was joined by other federal, state and local leaders, including Congressman Michael Lawler.
Lawler said he was “vehemently opposed to this plan which would shift the cost for housing, food and health care for folks who may be here illegally onto Rockland County and our municipalities."
On May 9, state Supreme Court Judge Christie D’Alessio issued a temporary restraining order preventing the LLCs that own the Armoni Inn & Suites in Rockland County from becoming a shelter for migrants set to the county from New York City. The Adams administration moved forward with its plan to house illegal immigrants in other municipalities outside of New York City.
"This is a renegade operation on the part of the mayor, and I cannot even begin to believe what's going on at this point," Rockland County Executive Ed Day told the media on May 10. "I have never seen such bullying and arrogance in my entire career."
Adams denounced Day at a press conference on May 11, claiming the county executive has a record of vitriolic comments.
"So when you look at the County Executive Day — this guy has a record of being antisemitic, racist comments,” said Adams, per NBC New York. “His thoughts and how he responded to this really shows a lack of leadership. I thought he was the Texas governor the way he acted.”
Abbott and other Republican governors have taken to offering illegal immigrants who are released into their states after crossing the southern border free bus rides to major, Democratically-led cities, including New York and Washington, D.C.
