Rockland says it received phone call from NYC asking if there's space for migrants
A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams told News 12 they are not aware of any immediate plans or conversations to send people to the county.
Rockland received a phone call last week asking if the county had any space for migrants that had arrived in New York City.
Rockland County Executive Ed Day said the call that his office received was from someone who represented themselves from New York City Mayor Eirc Adam's Office.
"This was not an outreach attempt," Day told News 12. "That would've been something the mayor would have picked up the phone and called me."
The call happened three months after a plan to bus 300 migrant men from New York City to the Armoni Inn in Orangeburg was stopped through legal actions.
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A spokesperson for Adams told News 12 they are in a crisis. They said they are looking for space but are not aware of any immediate plans or conversations to send people to Rockland.
They add that since the spring of 2022, nearly 100,000 people have come through their care and the city has opened nearly 200 emergency shelter sites.
As legal battles continue between the Rockland County government and New York City, organizations like Proyecto Faro have provided items, legal help and other services for years to immigrants already in the county.
"Just basic human dignity is being requested so that folks can live in dignity," said Proyecto Faro's Maria Marasigan.
"The truth is that there is a lot of dishonest rhetoric about immigrants when in fact our national economy, our local economy, have a huge debt of gratitude, or owe a huge debt of gratitude to immigrants who have kept so many sectors going," added Liz Roberts, also of Proyecto Faro.
Adams is asking President Joe Biden to declare a state of emergency because of the migrant crisis.
