New York Republicans Call for Special Legislative Session to Deal with Migrant Crisis

GOP members of the New York Senate and Assembly have called out the Democrats on the migrant crisis, requesting a special session of the state legislature to pass an emergency package of bills to address the flood of illegal immigrants coming into the Empire State.

“It was clear from the onset of this crisis that city, state, and federal officials were unprepared to take in the tens of thousands of migrants who have poured into our country over the wide-open southern border,” said Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano (R,C-Medford). “In the absence of their leadership, we have generated a list of legislative actions that will help protect both New Yorkers and the migrants, and we’re asking for an emergency special session of the legislature to take decisive action.”

The Republicans have requested the following special session actions (with accompanying bill number and sponsor):

Require the state comptroller to examine and audit state and federal funds received and appropriated for humanitarian aid in New York City or any municipality (A.7508, Ra);

Require New York State to register all migrants in order to assist with background checks and monitoring refugees seeking asylum (A.7319-A, Slater);

Protect counties and municipalities from “Right to Shelter” confusion by requiring local governing bodies in New York State to opt-in to accept migrants from other jurisdictions;

Ensure funding is not used to shelter migrants in schools, daycare centers, or community-based organizations;

Reverse the Executive Order of 2017 prohibiting law enforcement from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to end New York’s status as an illegal immigration sanctuary;

Adopt a resolution calling on the federal government to provide financial assistance to the state and properly address the border crisis it created.

“There are now more than 100,000 migrants whose records, including things like vaccination status for those about to be enrolled in our public schools, are a complete mystery to local and state officials,” DeStefano noted. “Estimates show New Yorkers are looking at a multi-billion dollar bill to cover expenses related to the crisis.”

In separate letters to the governor and the leaders of both houses, the GOP senators and assembly members asked that New York’s status as a sanctuary city be revoked.

“Considering that this crisis has spread much further than New York City’s lines, these measures are important for local communities facing enormous uncertainty in the coming months. It is extremely unfair to burden other areas with New York’s ill-advised and poorly executed decision to blindly declare the city a sanctuary,” the legislators wrote.

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Gov. Hochul and New York Mayor Eric Adams are scrambling to relocate more than 100,000 asylum seekers who have taken them up on their offer of sanctuary. They have recently received federal permission to shelter 2,000 migrants in a World War II hanger at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn and are setting up migrant camps anywhere they can. Adams recently raised the ire of local officials when he proposed three Suffolk sites for possible shelters. With her finger in the political wind, Hochul announced that she would not force the migrants on Suffolk communities, a move seen as helping Democrat candidates distance themselves from the hot-button issue in the November election.

“This is a problem brought to us by President Biden’s failed policies in Washington,” said Brookhaven Supervisor Edward Romaine. “We’re seeing these migrants coming through an open border with Mexico, along with illegal drugs, gang members, and human traffickers who want $10,000 to get someone across. This is having a huge impact, and we’re not yet seeing a fraction of the problem caused by the lack of an immigration policy in Washington.”