Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - New York State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt is among Republican leaders calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to call a special session of the State Legislature to address the migrant issue in New York.
Ortt says the issue has become a crisis statewide, and even Democrats are referencing it as such.
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In a letter to Hochul, Ortt and other Republicans tell Hochul:
"The Legislature must take action. We must vote to approve any funding for New York City or other localities in the State that are looking for assistance from the state government, clarify that 'right to shelter' laws do not apply broadly throughout our state and similarly, declare that New York is not a sanctuary state."
Ortt says it's not just Democrats in Albany calling this situation a crisis, but others in Western New York as well.
"The Governor was in Washington, D.C., the Mayor of New York City [Eric Adams] has been calling on the President, so this is in fact a crisis," said Ortt in an interview with WBEN. "We believe it's a crisis that's been created by Democrat policies, open border policies, sanctuary city policies. We should go back as a Legislature to a special session to deal with this crisis."
Ortt says he wants to make sure no additional money is able to go to this unless it's approved by the State Legislature. All of this in an effort to make sure other populations are protected.
"Particularly, we need to protect our children and other vulnerable populations from being displaced or negatively impacted by this crisis," Ortt said.
With his letter to Hochul, Ortt says he'd like to hear from the Governor as soon as possible.
"We should have already been called back. I can't believe we haven't been called back yet," he said.
Ortt adds there's been a lot of finger pointing among Democrats over the matter.
"[Hochul's] blaming the President, the President's blaming New York, [Adams] is blaming everybody but himself. The Attorney General [Letitia James], does the right to shelter applies across the state. The governor doesn't think so," Ortt explained.
Ortt feels the migrant situation in New York is a politically created crisis that's only getting worse if nothing is done to properly address the matter.
More from Sen. Ortt is available in the player below: