FAILURE TO DEAL WITH INFLUX OF MIGRANTS AND MOVE TO EXPEDITE MIGRANT WORK PERMITS WILL CREATE MAJOR NEW EXPENSES FOR COUNTIES, SAYS COUNTY EXECUTIVE STEVE MCLAUGHLIN
FAILURE TO DEAL WITH INFLUX OF MIGRANTS AND MOVE TO EXPEDITE MIGRANT WORK PERMITS WILL CREATE MAJOR NEW EXPENSES FOR COUNTIES, SAYS COUNTY EXECUTIVE STEVE MCLAUGHLIN
The continuing failure to address an influx of migrants will likely cause economic hardship for Rensselaer County and other upstate counties, County Executive Steve McLaughlin said today.
McLaughlin issued his warning as 25 counties outside of New York City have issued State of Emergency declarations because of the expected migrant influx and a failure by the federal and state governments to address the migrant issue. Rensselaer County issued a State of Emergency order on May 9 prohibiting any business or municipality in the county from entering into contracts to house migrants.
A plan by Governor Hochul and NYC Mayor Adams to have the migrants issued expedited work permits could end up with counties responsible for 71 percent of any social services costs, said McLaughlin. That would mean county taxpayers would be paying the vast majority of costs for migrants they did not invite or wish to host.
“This is not a shift of the migrants from New York City into upstate, it is a massive cost-shift that could jeopardize the budgets of upstate counties and taxpayers,” said McLaughlin.
“Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams have refused to use the legal means at their disposal to force the Biden administration to stop the influx. It is now clear the plan is to use upstate as a dumping ground for the failed open borders policies and sanctuary city experiments,” continued McLaughlin.
“They posture and we pay,” he added.
McLaughlin said the impact will be particularly felt by school districts across the state, along with county governments. The 20 upstate counties that have issued SOEs have said their counties are not prepared for a sudden influx of migrants. There will also be issues with housing, medical care and public safety, he added.
“Hochul and Adams are failing to deal with the catastrophe and only spreading the problem across our nation and our state. They themselves have referred to the influx as a crisis, but they refuse to take action,” said McLaughlin.
McLaughlin said he is instructing county attorneys to review potential legal action, because the forced relocation of migrants
“Not only is the action inhumane, it is also likely that these actions are illegal and violate state law,” said McLaughlin.
“We work every day to protect the health, safety and quality of life of the residents of Rensselaer County. We have a responsibility to our residents, and as we demonstrated during the pandemic, we take that responsibility very seriously,” added McLaughlin.
McLaughlin participated in another call with Governor Hochul organized by the New York State Association of Counties on Monday, but said little was accomplished with the call. According to state officials on the call, NYC accepted 71,000 migrants, with 43,000 still in the city and 900 arriving each day.
“The Governor continues to not address the problem of the influx of migrants, and instead continues to look for ways to spread the problem around the county and get everyone to pay for the mistakes of a few progressives,” said McLaughlin.