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New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office has continued to insist that city officials have been in talks with local and state leaders over moving asylum seekers upstate, despite accounts of the contrary.
“The Adams administration notifies impacted state and local leaders every time we implement our upstate hoteling program for asylum seekers as soon as possible,” said a City Hall spokesperson.
“This approach began in May when Mayor Adams personally and proactively informed elected leaders across the state of our intent to explore hoteling options and continues regularly with members of our administration following up regularly,” they said.
New York City released a similar statement in late July, claiming that the administration “reached out before migrants are moved to local communities, including to Schenectady.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul in a press conference on Tuesday in Amsterdam said that Adams hasn’t consistently informed her team whenever the city moves asylum seekers. She added that her office aims to work as a “facilitator” between localities and the city administration whenever possible.
In Rotterdam, local officials say they didn’t receive any information before migrants were transported to the Super 8 motel on Carman Road two weeks ago. At least 238 migrants are currently staying at the motel.
Rotterdam Town Supervisor Mollie Collins has reported nil communication between the municipality and the Adams administration, as well as a lack of information from DocGo, a mobile medical provider contracted with New York City to transport migrants.
“How many school-aged children do we have and what grades will they be going into? I know that was a concern of the Mohonasen school district and every question that I asked was, ‘no, the asylum seekers have the right to their privacy, or no, we can’t tell you that,'” said Collins.
Concerns have also emerged over the eviction of current guests in mid-July at a motel known to house domestic violence victims and homeless people.
Further in the greater Albany metro area, New York City has also housed asylum seekers at a motel in Colonie and reportedly offered multiple motel owners contracts to set up relocation posts in the city of Amsterdam.
Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, D-Rotterdam, has introduced legislation which would require New York City to notify both local and state officials before transporting willing migrants away from the crowded metropolis.
Nearly 100,000 migrants have entered New York City since the spring of 2022. Much of the recent influx piggybacked the end of Title 42, a COVID-19-era policy allowing federal agents to easily reject asylum applicants at the border.
Since then, 194 humanitarian relief centers have opened up. More than 56,000 migrants are still being helped by the city all the while hundreds more have been arriving in the Big Apple daily.
Nearly half of all state counties — namely GOP-dominated administrations — have pushed back against Adams’ relocation plans with executive orders effectively penalizing migrant assistance. New York City has since countered the “xenophobic” orders with a lawsuit, claiming such declarations violate state and federal law.
Republican officials have urged the White House to harden policies on the asylum application process and strengthen border security.
Adams and Hochul have urged the Biden administration for increased federal assistance, including an expedited, 30-day visa process to integrate the new population into the state economy and ease existing labor shortages.
“I can’t tell you how many business owners will come up to me and say, ‘can you send some of these migrants to me so I can help them work in my company, my factory, my business,” Hochul said at a Tuesday press conference. “So I have been very aggressive in my approach to the White House just to allow us to have a change instead of having to wait 180 days after asylum is applied for and that is a long period.”
Tyler A. McNeil can be reached at 518-395-3047 or [email protected]. Follow him on Facebook at Tyler A. McNeil, Daily Gazette or Twitter @TylerAMcNeil.
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