New York, May 8 Rockland County, in upstate New York, today warned the city’s mayor, Eric Adams, that it is preparing to fight his plans to send immigrants to Rockland to be housed in a hotel, which he will do armed with the executive order issued last Saturday and by legal means.
“We are making every effort to ensure that this does not happen to this county,” Republican Ed Day, the executive director (top position), said at a press conference on Monday.
He also reiterated that they are not prepared to receive these immigrants because they are already facing an increase in the undocumented population that has put more pressure on schools, food pantries and social services, and that adds to the crisis for affordable housing. .
“We are not equipped to humanely help these people,” he said surrounded by several county officials.
He recalled that “New York is a sanctuary city but Rockland County is not,” referring to the fact that New York by law is obliged to provide accommodation to those who request it.
Adams, a Democrat, announced Friday that he will send immigrants to hotels in Rockland and Orange counties – the first on the outskirts of the city – where they will stay for four months, when the city’s public shelters reach saturation and the most of 120 hotels that they have rented for undocumented immigrants arriving since August 2022 and that already number more than 60,000 people.
The city is bracing for the surge that is expected to increase starting this week when Title 42 comes to an end, which has allowed for the hot removal of people who cross the border.
Day’s response – a former police officer like Adams – was to declare a state of emergency on Saturday, which will be in effect for 30 days – and can be renewed – in an attempt to stop such plans in his county.
This state of emergency prohibits other municipalities from bringing and housing people in the county and hotels and motels from housing unlicensed immigrants and can impose fines of up to $2,000 per violation.
For her part, Teresa Kenny, supervisor of Orangetown, a Rockland town where the hotel that would receive 340 immigrants is located, stressed that they would all be single men and expressed her concern because they do not know if they have a criminal record.
“This will be a New York City-run shelter in the Town of Orange. Our code doesn’t allow that,” after which, he said, a violation notice was sent to the Armoni Hotel.
“I don’t know why the mayor thinks he could come and pay for people for four months or a year without checking if it’s legal with the municipality. So the city is prepared to take legal action if necessary,” he said, further stating that “we have a right to know what the plan is.”
The other hotel that will host immigrants, The Crossroads, in Orange County, has said it can accommodate 60 men. EFE
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2023-05-08 18:32:01
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