Migrants bused to Albany County as NYC grapples with influx
- Another county is blasting NYC’s plans to house migrants in suburbs
- Albany County: “Want to be part of the solution … but it’s organized chaos”
- 40K migrants live in NYC; it’s struggling to house them as more arrive
Immigrants to the United States sit with their belongings on the sidewalk in front of the Watson Hotel in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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NEW YORK (NewsNation) — Upstate New York counties continue to blast New York City Mayor Eric Adams for bussing nearly five dozen migrant asylum seekers into their communities with little notice.
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy declared a state of emergency and issued an emergency order to prevent an uncontrolled influx of asylum seekers.
“We want to be part of the solution — not part of the problem, but it’s organized chaos right now,” McCoy told The New York Post.
The emergency was issued on May 23 as a result of the May 11 expiration of Title 42, which it said resulted “in a surge of migration into the United States and into New York State and the anticipated migration of migrants and/or asylum seekers into the county of Albany, which will result in a severe housing crisis as a result of the limited number of temporary and permanent housing available in the County.”
The state of emergency will remain in effect until “rescinded by a subsequent order.”
It comes as the Big Apple grapples with how to deal with thousands of asylum-seekers, with busloads more being sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Cities throughout New York State have battled plans from New York City Mayor Eric Adams to send an overflow of migrants to their hotels.
Earlier this month, parents and students in Coney Island, Brooklyn protested against placing migrants in a school gym, a decision that the city of New York walked back.
On Monday, Fabien Levy, Adams’s spokesperson, responded to the criticism.
“In most areas, we’re not even asking localities to help manage a quarter of 1% of the asylum seekers that have arrived in New York City, and again with New York covering the costs,” Levy said.
Currently, more than 40,000 migrants live in the Big Apple and are dependent on the city for shelter, food, and other basic necessities, putting a massive strain on the city’s resources. It’s forced Adams to send migrants to other counties in the state for shelter.
Texas has bused more than 7,000 migrants to New York City since April 2022 and plans to continue to send more migrants, according to the office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
On May 9, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency to help provide aid to asylum seekers expected to arrive in New York as federal Title 42 ended. It will remain in effect through June 8 for the entire state.
