New York prepares for influx of migrants as Title 42 expires

Last updated on May 15th, 2023 at 04:25 am

While multiple counties in New York State have announced a state of emergency, New York City has temporarily suspended some shelter rules, ahead of an anticipated influx of migrants from the border with Mexico as the Title 42 immigration policy expired Thursday at midnight.

Tensions also rise as NYC prepares to send some migrants to neighbouring counties, Xinhua News Agency reported.

On Tuesday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order – effective till June 8 – and announced a disaster emergency in the state, allowing the state to mobilise National Guard members and to swiftly address food and supply requirements.

With roughly 1,000 National Guardsmen already deployed, the state would mobilise more 500 National Guard members.

New York City has temporarily suspended or modified some local laws that require the city to offer the asylum seekers shelter, according to an executive order signed on Wednesday by Mayor Eric Adams.

According to Fabien Levy, spokesperson for the mayor, “We have reached our limit, and this last week we had to resort to temporarily housing recent arrivals in gyms.”

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Recently, scores of asylum seekers were sheltered in a gym within one former police academy building close to Manhattan’s Gramercy Park, local media reported. According to NYC officials, the city is currently spending roughly $8 million per day to shelter over 37,500 migrants.

4,200 people arrived in the city last week alone. Texas Governor Greg Abbott took to social media on Wednesday informing netizens about more than 5,700 people being bused to New York City from Texas, which shares its borders with Mexico.

Meanwhile, NYC, which has long been seen as a major sanctuary city for migrants, has started to send hundreds of these individuals to neighbouring counties.

Although the city has expressed its commitment to paying for the migrants’ hotel rooms and support services there, the arrangement has drawn criticism and even triggered lawsuits in these counties.

So far, New York City has transported around 60 migrants on buses to the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh of Orange County.

While the city planned to send more than 300 migrants to Armoni Inn & Suites in Orangetown, Rockland County, the New York Supreme Court has granted the county a restraining order, not allowing NYC to turn the hotel into a shelter.

A minimum of four counties in Hudson Valley and upstate New York have announced a state of emergency, including Orange, Rockland, and Schuyler counties, with the intention of preventing local hotels, motels, and rental facilities from becoming temporary shelters.