Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne joined surrounding counties on Monday, filing a state of emergency in response to New York City’s efforts to relocate asylum seekers in the Hudson Valley.

“The purpose of these executive orders is to give the County the ability to preserve residents’ rights, protect their well-being, and enforce county established laws and codes, in the wake of what has clearly become a disorganized, muddy operation by New York City officials,” said County Executive Byrne in prepared remarks.

According to Byrne, the emergency declaration affords the county “the flexibility to re-direct county resources to enforce sanitary code, as well as directs hotels, motels and those with temporary residency permits not to accept migrants and asylum seekers from NYC essentially transforming them into homeless shelters absent a shared services agreement with Putnam County.”