LI Town Supervisor Declares State Of Emergency Over Migrant Crisis

RIVERHEAD, NY — A state of emergency has been declared by Riverhead Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar over migrants and asylum-seekers that she said could be headed to the area.

Aguiar declared the state of emergency, the town said, based on information received and in response to reports that the New York City Department of Homeless Services has, or will arrange for, the transportation and relocation of undocumented migrants and/or asylum seekers to hotels or motels within the Town of Riverhead.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams or a representative on his behalf has reached out to Riverhead motels and hotels to assess their availability for delivering migrants, Aguiar said.

The state of emergency is the first to be declared in response to the migrant issue on Long Island.

Riverhead Town code does not allow the use of transient motels for use as residential housing, she said — and migrants will “face refusal and/or eviction,” resulting in widespread homelessness, the supervisor said.

She ordered that all hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfast facilities, inns, cottages, campgrounds, or any other transient lodging units allowing short-term rentals do not accept migrants or asylum-seekers in Riverhead Town.

“Relative to the surrounding townships on the East End and throughout Suffolk County, Riverhead has done more than its share when it comes to housing the homeless, providing services and offering affordable housing and our resources — and taxpayers simply cannot withstand further demand on our public services,” Aguiar said.

The health and safety of the residents of Riverhead remains Aguiar’s primary concern and top priority, she said.

In the executive order declaring the state of emergency, Aguiar said, as it stands, there are currently 224 “overcrowded or over-occupied” homes in town; and Riverhead has an inventory of 1,675 rental properties. Also, Aguiar said, “there are an estimated 91 unlawful apartments and 35 unsafe buildings and structures” in and around the area.

Also in Riverhead, she said, there are two “large-scale, non-transient homeless shelters at the Greenview and Wading River Motels” and 14 sober homes in town.

There are also three known homeless encampments outdoors on undeveloped properties, she said.

Riverhead, she said, cannot bear the burden of migrants or asylum seekers.

“It is well-known that the Riverhead Central School District, including elementary, middle, junior and high schools maintain enrollments near or beyond maximum capacities,” Aguiar said.

The migrants and asylum-seekers have come from the nation's southern borders, arriving in New York City without the ability to provide for their basic needs, she added.

“The federal government has failed or refused to anticipate, appreciate and react to the volume of migrants overwhelming the southern border,” she said — “and has failed to defend the sovereignty of the nation, resulting in thousands of migrants and asylum seekers crossing the U.S. border virtually unchecked.”

The federal government has relocated migrants to “sanctuary cities” such as New York City, which, on May 5, “as a result of federal mismanagement of asylum seekers and migrants,” and exacerbated by sanctuary city policies, “the mayor of the City of New York conceded that 'the city now faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis,'” exporting migrants to Orange and Rockland Counties, Aguiar said.

“There is nothing humanitarian about a sanctuary city sending busloads of people to a rural town that does not have infrastructure to care for them, especially since social services funding is not available to undocumented individuals,” Aguiar wrote.

Riverhead, with a population of 36,000, is not “capable of receiving and sustaining any number of immigrants whom New York City seeks to export,” she said.

Moreover, once placed in Riverhead, there is no reason to believe that the migrants will leave, she said.

Riverhead already bears the burden of a disproportionate share of low-income housing, Aguiar said.

“There is a reasonable apprehension of immediate danger of public emergency of hundreds, or potentially, thousands of persons being transported to the Town of Riverhead,” Aguiar said.

Riverhead is not the only community pushing back: On Tuesday, it was decided “for the time being” New York City will not be allowed to house migrants in Orange County.

State Supreme Court Judge Sandra B. Sciortino granted the county’s application for a temporary restraining order, which stopped the mayor of New York City — for the time being — from sending asylum seekers to Orange County, according to a spokesperson.

As modified by the court, the temporary restraining order allows the 186 asylum seekers already at the Crossroads Hotel and Ramada by Wyndham in the Town of Newburgh to remain in Orange County.

Despite reports that New York City shelved plans to place asylum-seekers at a Westchester hotel, the first busloads of immigrants arrived from Manhattan Tuesday night.

In the hours before about 40 refugees arrived at the Ramada Inn on Tuckahoe Road, Westchester County Executive George Latimer told WVOX News Radio that NYC's plans to place immigrant families at the hotel fell through, but those assurances appear to have been premature.

The county executive pledged that when asylum-seekers do arrive, the county will work to support municipalities with security and humanitarian needs. Although New York City will pay for the housing and meals for the immigrants, Latimer said that there will be other needs that the local community will be duty-bound to provide.

The county executive told radio listeners that New York City was reaching out to a number of hotels in Westchester to find space for an overwhelming number of immigrants arriving in the city from the southern border.

Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said asylum-seekers from New York City arrived in the town of Newburgh after being told by New York City officials that the immigrants would not be sent.

In a statement, Neuhaus said both the state and New York City assured the town of Newburgh and Orange County that no buses with asylum-seekers would be sent to Orange County until further notice. He said the New York State Police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the supervisor of Newburgh and his police department were not notified about the buses.

“Sadly, we have learned that you cannot trust the word of New York City’s mayor and the leadership of New York,” Neuhaus said.

Rockland County also issued a state of emergency.

SEE ALSO:

• 'A Complete Outrage,' Candidate Urges Lawsuit In Migrant Clash
• NYC Will Send Asylum Seekers To Westchester In Coming Days
• Latimer Cites History, Bible Over NYC Migrant Controversy
• Rockland To File Court Papers Over Restraining Order Against NYC
• Orange County Seeks Restraining Orders Against NYC Over Migrants
• Orange County Exec Declares State of Emergency Over NYC Migrant Plan
• Judge Grants Rockland Restraining Order Against NYC Over Migrant Plan
• Orange County Not Expecting NYC's Asylum-Seekers In 'Near Future'
• Officials Surprised As Asylum-Seekers Arrive In Newburgh Thursday
• Two Suits Filed To Stop NYC From Housing Migrants In Rockland County
• 2 HV Congressmen Ask Feds To Declare Emergency Over Migrants
• Governor Declares Emergency As HV, NYC War Over Migrant Influx
• Putnam County Exec Writes To NYC Mayor On 'Half-Baked' Migrant Plans
• NYC Plan For Migrants Like 'Human Trafficking' - Rockland County Exec
• With State Of Emergency, Rockland To Hold News Conference On Migrants
• NY County Declares 'State Of Emergency' Over 300 NYC Migrants

With reporting by Jeff Edwards.