Rockland County Declares State of Emergency Over NYC Migrants

By Hamodia Staff

Rockland County declared a state of emergency Saturday ahead of the expected arrival of 340 migrant men who will be staying at the Armoni Inn and Suites in Orangeburg for several months to get work permits. The facility has no resources within walking distance.

Orange County Executive Stephen Neuhaus was informed that 60 migrant men will be staying at the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh.

In sharply worded messages to NYC Mayor Eric Adams, elected politicians from Rockland County told the mayor not to send migrants from the city northward to Rockland County.

“Mayor Eric Adams must not send migrants to Rockland County as part of his plan to alleviate the strain New York City is under, said Congressman Mike Lawler (R-17). “Rockland County is not a sanctuary county, unlike New York City and its boroughs, and should not bear the costs associated with the Biden administration’s abject failure on border security and immigration policy.

“Two months ago, County Executive Ed Day and I raised a red flag on the humanitarian crisis created by the Biden administration and the strain facing the county’s social services department, as well as our non-profits and schools, in trying to address the migrant crisis. We are a nation of migrants – my wife being one of them – and we welcome them to our country and community. But it is unsustainable to have 15,000 migrants crossing the border daily without any plan for housing, employment or food. It is clear that the White House has no real plan to handle the migrant crisis in cities across America, except to allow it to continue unimpeded.

“While I have long agreed with Mayor Adams about the need for more federal aid to accommodate the migrant crisis in New York City, I am fundamentally opposed to shifting that crisis to other communities that are not prepared to handle the influx. There is a real strain on food banks, shelters, and out non-profits in the 17th District already, and these additional arrivals may send them under.”

Rockland County Executive Ed Day said, “This is absurd, and we will not stand for it.There is nothing humanitarian about a sanctuary city sending busloads of people to a county that does not have the infrastructure to care for them. It’s the same as throwing them into the middle of the ocean with nowhere to swim.”

Day released a statement saying, “This county already has a housing crisis due to the lack thereof and lack of affordable housing options. This crisis is so extreme that Rockland has been unprecedently deputized by the State of New York to take over Building and Fire Code enforcement in the Village of Spring Valley.”

Orange County Town Board member Tom Diviny said about Mayor Adams, “He’s a hypocrite because he’s the one who said, ‘I can’t believe they’re doing this to the city of New York,’ and now he’s doing the exact same thing that he’s come out against so many times in the press.”