HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (1010 WINS) — The leader of the Suffolk County Legislature announced Sunday the body would seek to block New York City from sending asylum seekers to be housed in the county.
Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey, the highest ranking member of the body, said the legislature would take steps to “prevent New York City from sending thousands of undocumented immigrants into Suffolk County communities.”
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, a Democrat, has previously said he is open to the idea of sheltering migrants in the county.
“It falls in your lap, and you’ve gotta address it, and we’re committed to doing that in a responsible, fiscally responsible and a humane way as well," said Bellone.
The legislature’s plan follows a similar action implemented via executive order in Riverhead last week.
New York City has been looking to surrounding counties to shelter some newly-arrived asylum seekers.
The city claims more than 65,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republican governors started bussing migrants from the southern border to sanctuary cities in the summer of 2022.
Adams has set up refugee camps, slated make-shift shelters for school gymnasiums and narrowed the city’s Right to Shelter law — rolling back the mandate for the city to offer a bed to those seeking one in a timely manner — all in response to asylum seekers arriving in the city.
Suffolk and Nassau counties have not yet been asked to house asylum seekers, but the Adams administration has indicated each would be asked to do so in the future.
Orange and Rockland counties have both declared states of emergency in an attempt to block vacant hotels from opening their doors to asylum seekers.
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