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About 340 migrant men will be housed in Rockland County at the Armoni Inn and Suites in Orangeburg for four months, Rockland County Executive Ed Day said Saturday afternoon, May 6.
The county informed New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Friday, May 5 that Rockland would not allow this plan to stand and has enacted the state of emergency in direct response.
"New York City declared itself a Sanctuary City in December of 2016 committing itself to supporting undocumented individuals while this County has not for the simple fact that we are one-tenth the population of New York City and incapable of receiving and sustaining the volume of undocumented migrants Mayor Eric Adams intends to send over,” said Day, who is a Republican. “Sending busloads of people to this county that does not have the infrastructure to care for them will only compound that issue tenfold while straining support systems that are already at a breaking point.”
The state of emergency, issued Saturday, is due to remain in effect for 30 days, at which time it may be extended.
"The state of emergency prohibits other municipalities from bringing and housing people in the county and prohibits hotels and motels from housing immigrants without a license and requires any municipalities that might bring migrating or asylum-seeking people into Rockland County to ensure they will be fully cared for and paid for," Day said.
Rockland County Director of Social Services Joan Silvestri said Rockland's "current system is not built to support large influxes of population seekers.
“Social Services funding is also not applicable to undocumented individuals, so we have no financial support to help those without a legal status.”
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