Putnam County Exec Writes To NYC Mayor On 'Half-Baked' Migrant Plans

PUTNAM COUNTY, NY — As Hudson Valley and New York City officials fight over temporary housing for some of the thousands of migrants who've arrived from the Texas border, Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne sent a blunt letter to Mayor Eric Adams.

Byrne told Patch that he wrote the letter after an hour-long conference call on Thursday with Adams, members of his administration, and several regional officials.

"I give the mayor some credit in that he definitely took the time to speak, listen and answer questions from a concerned and in some cases a hostile audience," Byrne said Friday.

Rockland and Orange County officials have been hostile since learning a week ago that the city had imminent plans to move about 300 migrants to hotels in Orangeburg and Orange Lake. Rockland managed to stave off their arrival by filing lawsuits against the hotel and the city. Orange County officials announced after conversations with the city and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul that the plans were on hold — only to learn they weren't. SEE: Officials Surprised As Asylum-Seekers Arrive In Newburgh Thursday

The city's actions sparked outrage, fear, and confusion throughout the region, Byrne said in the letter. "While I understand and empathize with your desire to help these individuals, you must understand that your actions to date have undermined these migrants' cause. By attempting to effectively establish homeless shelters throughout the region, the City is creating far more problems than it solves."

Byrne called Adams's argument that his administration reached out to Orange and Rockland officials "disingenuous."

"It was after the city of New York contracted with hotels," he pointed out.

The mayor is clearly displeased when he is compared to what the governors of Texas and Florida have done, loading migrants on buses and sending them north, and there is a difference, Byrne acknowledged. New York is paying for shelter and services. On the other hand, he said, "the other states have been overwhelmed for quite some time."

The city spent a lot of time virtue-signaling, Byrne said. "They've been doing this for a year, and all of a sudden it's reaching a boiling point."

Officials have been checking around since last Friday to see if New York City had reached out in Putnam. "We're doing our due diligence so we are prepared with an appropriate response," Byrne said.

Byrne said in the letter that he worried the asylum seekers moved to the Hudson Valley would become vulnerable to exploitation and criminal activity.

"People that are living in the shadows are vulnerable to exploitation — it's not unique to the Hudson Valley," he acknowledged to Patch.

Given the lack of notice, coordination and information, Byrn said he cannot endorse the city's plan. However, he said, he puts the blame elsewhere.

He acknowledged the problem goes back more than 40 years. However, he said, because President Joe Biden visited the Hudson Valley Wednesday to talk about the debt ceiling, criticizing Biden's policies in particular is appropriate.

"I see a big distinction between the Afghanistan and the Syrian refugee crisis," he said. "The system for processing and welcoming those asylum seekers is much different from what we're experiencing now."

"The federal government must secure our border and should fix the asylum review process to help relieve the enormous backlog of cases in the courts," he wrote in the letter to Adams. "Individuals should not have to wait months or years without guidance or a path forward, and the communities they reside in should not be put in the situation of having to endlessly provide care and services for them, including your city."

Without a shared services agreement between the county and the city, Byrne told Adams in the letter, "We cannot in good faith endorse or allow you to move forward with these half-baked plans."

"Alternatively, should you seek my assistance in lobbying President Biden and the U.S. Congress to secure our nation's border as well as properly vet and process the surge of asylum seekers, I remain willing and able," Byrne wrote.

"This federal issue is now at our doorstep. There's no avoiding it," he told Patch.

RELATED:

• Here's What Title 42 Did And How US Immigration Policy Is Changing
• Governor Declares Emergency As HV, NYC War Over Migrant Influx
• Two Suits Filed To Stop NYC From Housing Migrants In Rockland County