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Rockland County Executive Ed Day said on Monday, May 8 that the plan by New York City Mayor Eric Adams to send 340 male immigrants to Rockland County is "utter nonsense" and a State of Emergency that was enacted over the weekend will make sure it doesn't happen.
During a press conference on Monday, Day, along with officials from Orange County which has also been picked as a location for the asylum seekers to be housed, all expressed frustration with the plan and said legally Adams has no right to send the immigrants to Rockland and Orange counties.
"Every effort is being made to ensure this plan does not go forward," Day said.
Day said NYC has received $1 billion from the state to house the asylum seekers who have been sent to the state from the southern border, mainly from Texas.
"Rockland is not going to stand idly by as your administration (Adam's) which boasts itself as a sanctuary city diverts busloads of undocumented individuals to our county," Day said.
Rockland has not declared itself a sanctuary county.
The hotel slated in Rockland County to house the men is the Armoni Inn and Suites, off Route 303 in Orangeburg, officials said.
Orangeburg officials said the hotel was basically turning the building into a shelter and cited the hotel for violation of its certificate of occupancy.
Day said the hotel would be charged $2,000 a day per person, per day if they do house the immigrants.
Said Orangetown Town Supervisor Teresa Kenny: “We have a town law that says transients up to no more than 30 days so I don’t know why the mayor (Eric Adams) thinks he can come and pay for people for four months without checking if it's even legal in the municipality but I’m sorry Mr. Mayor you don’t trump our laws.”
The county executive did not say what the county plans to do if the buses arrived from New York City, adding he didn't want to reveal those plans.
The hotel in Orange County is The Crossroads, off I-84 in the town of Newburgh. They are expecting at least 60 migrants.
Next, Gov. Kathy Hochul could issue an order, which Day said would not be legal, as the state cannot tell cities or towns what to do.
Day also said that many migrants would strain social services and once their time was up at the hotel overwhelm the homeless issue in Rockland County which is currently light.
He added the number of asylum seekers that would be at the hotel is five times the current homeless population in Rockland County: "That's a huge amount of change," he said.
For now, it's a wait-and-see game of whether Adams will send the immigrants from New York City.
Republican Congressman Mike Lawler, who represents 17th District which includes Rockland and Orange counties, also attended Monday's press conference.
This remains a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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