Every five days New York City mayor Eric Adams experiences his own Groundhog Day. He picks up his pen again and again to reauthorize the executive order declaring a state of emergency in the City of New York he first signed on October 7, 2022.
The first time he signed it the number of individuals who arrived in the city seeking asylum had reached 17,429.
The executive order noted the unannounced and unscheduled arrival of busloads of asylum-seekers at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, sent courtesy of the State of Texas’ Operation Lone Star, Thousands of migrants had been transported by bus from Texas to Chicago, Washington D.C. and New York City. Over the 40-day period before Adams signed the order, 2500 migrants had arrived from Texas.
Adams reauthorized his executive order for the 18th time on New Year’s Eve, on Valentine’s Day for the 37th time, and on Passover for the 37th time.
The day after Adams reauthorized his emergency declaration for the 43rd time, on Cinco de Mayo, it would be discovered that he had arranged for near 300 migrants to be housed on New York City’s dime at the Armani Inn in Orangeburg and at the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh.
The backlash was swift.
In quick succession, Rockland County executive Edwin Day declared his state of emergency on May 6. Orange County executive Steven Neuhaus followed suit on May 8. All hotels, motels and facilities offering short-term rentals within their borders could no longer accept migrants or asylum-seekers sent from the city.
Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman has so far avoided declaring a state of emergency, but there is no confusion as to his emotions. He wrote a Facebook post saying: “Mayor Adams can find a lot of sanctuary places, but Nassau County isn’t one of them! There’s no welcome mat here.”
Westchester County executive George Lattimer, a Democrat, has so far avoided the furious reaction of his Republican counterparts. “Human compassion has to be met with pragmatism,” said Lattimer in a statement. “We must understand the U.S. can’t solve the problems of the world. We don’t have the resources. We can’t be there for every person on this planet, but we can’t turn a blind eye, either.”
Governor Kathy Hochul says that New York City had exceeded the capacity of its shelter system, which she claims currently provides temporary housing and support for over 36,700 migrants at 120 locations.
This total doesn’t count the tens of thousands of other individuals currently housed along with the migrants in the citywide DHS shelter system. When Adams first signed his executive order, 60,000 individuals were already in the system. He predicted the number would rise to over 100,000 individuals some time in 2023.
Police chief James Janso suspects placement of asylum-seekers in Lloyd
Adams has so far revealed no plans to place New York City migrants farther north in the Hudson Valley.
On May 16, Dutchess County executive William O’Neil and sheriff Kirk Imperati pre-emptively rejected the idea in a statement. “Our community is not equipped to receive any influx of asylum-seekers or migrants,” they said, “and will not enter into an agreement with the state or New York City to allow for mass housing of their migrants.” Recognizing that there were strong opinions on this issue, they urged residents “to remain peaceful and respectful.”.
On May 18, Ulster County executive Jen Metzger weighed in on the matter in a released statement, noting that the county has yet to be contacted by Adams about receiving migrants.
Acknowledged to be undergoing among the most intense housing availability issues in the state, the crisis must necessarily complicate what many would prefer to be an open-armed-humanitarian response.
“We are taking proactive steps to prepare for any possible developments and continue to actively monitor the situation,” said Metzger. “ I want to thank governor Kathy Hochul for traveling to Washington today to meet with Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and members of the New York congressional delegation to press for expedited federal resources to address this crisis. Ulster County is committed to protecting all of our residents and providing them with the safety, respect, and dignity they deserve. I will continue to engage with every level of government to ensure that we are meeting that commitment.”
Ulster County sheriff Juan Figueroa responded to questions in his customary straightforward fashion.
“My job is to protect the people in this county. And that’s whoever that is,” he said. “So, you know I was a supporter of Green Light. People deserve licenses out there in this country, but I’m also a supporter of, if you come into our country and you break the laws like any other person in this country, you’re going to be held accountable. That’s the standard. Don’t break the laws.”
New rules greatly restrict migrant entry into U.S.
With the expiration of Title 42 last Thursday, developments have been unpredictably quiet here in the Hudson Valley. Title 42 was the Trump presidency policy that allowed agents patrolling the borders with Mexico and Canada to expel any persons they found there attempting to cross, preventing them from officially asking for asylum.
Authorities had feared an unrestrained surge of immigrants right up to the midnight bell on May 12 that would overwhelm border patrol agents. The novel use of health rules to stymie immigration was dreamed up at the start of the Covid pandemic by Trump’s race-baiting Svengali, Stephen Miller.
Under Geneva Convention rules signed by members of the United Nations, the United States acknowledges obligations in regards to the protection of refugees, returnees and stateless persons which were sidestepped by Title 42 policy. Far from being a compassionate reset for the United States to enter back into compliance within their international obligations, the new Biden policy, called Title 8, severely restricts the granting of asylum.
Immigrants in Kingston
Unless they can meet one of a short list of exceptions, access and eligibility have been rendered difficult to obtain for people fleeing their homes because of violence and instability. Migrants will be presumed ineligible for asylum in the United States if in passing through other nations en route to the U.S. border they failed to apply first for protection in intermediate countries.
At a May 11 press conference in Washington D.C., Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said, “We are making it very clear that our border is not open, that crossing irregularly is against the law, and that those who are not eligible for relief will be quickly returned.”
It was estimated that 11,000 migrants crossed the border the day before.
“This is a problem that’s not going to go away,” said father Frank Alagna, a Kingston pro-immigrants activist. “There have always been immigrants, since Abraham left Ur. The scriptures are filled with all sorts of eminent admonitions to care for the stranger among you, because that is part of the ongoing human experience.”
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