New York governor Kathy Hochul is reportedly planning on housing as many as 1,500 illegal migrants in dormitories at three state college campuses across the state.
Migrants will be housed on SUNY Buffalo, Stony Brook, and Albany campuses, a source told Spectrum News NY1. The governor’s office is expected to announce the plan in the coming week, Fink reported.
“At Governor Hochul’s direction, we are assessing whether there are SUNY resources available to help with the arrival of asylum seekers,” the governor’s office said.
Last Wednesday, NY1 conducted an in-depth interview with Hochul to explore the governor’s plans to house migrants following New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s plea for additional help.
“There are welcoming counties out there,” Hochul said. “It just, sometimes you identify a community that wants them, but you have to find the hotel to stay, and a lot of other communities have homelessness problems.”
“I want to make sure the Democrats, Republicans, everyone understands the challenges we’re facing right now,” the governor added.
Hochul was in Plattsburgh, N.Y., the following day, touring local SUNY facilities with the aim of temporarily converting student dorms to help with the housing shortage.
“Philosophically we are a country of immigrants and now is not the time to be xenophobic or scared of people that need respite,” the town’s mayor, Chris Rosenquest, told the Associated Press.
A local NBC news affiliate subsequently reached out to SUNY’s Chancellor’s Office and confirmed that Hochul was moving ahead with the proposal.
“At Governor Hochul’s direction, we are assessing whether there are SUNY resources available to help with the arrival of asylum seekers,” a spokesperson told the AP.
The news drew the ire of Representative Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.), Chair of the House Republican Conference, who condemned the move as a misallocation of public resources.
“It’s disgusting and shameful that Governor Kathy Hochul is in discussion with local officials about using taxpayer-funded SUNY schools and facilities throughout New York, including SUNY schools across NY-21 to house unvetted illegal immigrants,” Stefanik said in a statement.
“Let me be very clear, Upstate New York is not a sanctuary city to clean up Joe Biden’s catastrophic border crisis. We respect the rule of law and we oppose any attempt to use our taxpayer-funded facilities to be used for free housing for illegal immigrants.”
Following the expiration of Title 42 on May 11, Governor Hochul issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency in New York. There are roughly 60,000 asylum seekers already in the state relying on social services.