Suffolk County Presiding Officer McCaffrey Announces Plan to Stop New York City from Sending Migrants and Asylum-Seekers to Suffolk County
HAUPPAUGE, NY--Suffolk County Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst) today announced the Suffolk County Legislature will begin to take measures to stop New York City Mayor Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul from sending migrants and asylum seekers to Suffolk County. McCaffrey was joined by US Rep. Nick LaLota (R), members of the New York State Senate, Assembly, local town officials and the Suffolk Legislature.
“We are watching a humanitarian crisis spin out of control due to the complete incompetence of the Biden Administration and Gov. Hochul,” said McCaffrey. “Thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers are being sent to municipalities every day. Our message is simple: the residents of Suffolk County should not have to shoulder the burden of the failed policies of the Biden and Hochul administrations, and we will do whatever is in our power to stop this effort.”
McCaffrey is expected to file a resolution on Tuesday, May 23 at the general meeting of the legislature to hire special counsel to pursue all legal options available to prevent the relocation of migrants and asylum-seekers to Suffolk County.
The data coming from New York City demonstrates how daunting the cost of providing services could be for the residents of Suffolk County. The crisis is projected to cost the city $4.3 billion by June 2024, according to estimates by the city’s Office of Management and Budget.
That is over $1 Billion more than the entire operating budget of Suffolk County.
“We cannot allow the Biden, Hochul and Adams administrations to pass on these costs to the residents of Suffolk,” said McCaffrey. “The amount of money that the federal and state governments have committed towards this crisis is a mere drop in the bucket compared to what it will actually cost the taxpayers.”
It is estimated that the steady influx of migrants sent to New York City is soon expected to increase to as many as 5,000 a week. More than 30,000 have been sent to the city. They have been placed in city shelters already overwhelmed by the city’s housing crisis, and 120 hotels--all at taxpayer expense.
The decision to block the city’s efforts to send migrants and asylum-seekers to Suffolk County is not an anti-immigration stance, McCaffrey said, but instead is about providing public safety and fiscal responsibility for the Suffolk County residents.
“We recognize that we are a country of immigrants. This is about the failed immigration policies of the federal government. There is no vetting process in place. It can take up to two years to have a hearing about being granted asylum. During that time, nobody will be able to get work permits,” said McCaffrey. We do not know who may be sent to our county so we do not know what strain it could put on partners in law enforcement. But we do know that they have no way to provide for their food, shelter, medical, or schooling costs because the Biden Administration’s failed policy prevents from them obtaining work legally.”
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