Senate Republicans Call for Action to Illegal Immigration Crisis

My Senate Republican colleagues and I stood together today and called for a full, transparent accounting of taxpayer dollars being spent on the ongoing illegal immigrant crisis, and introduced common-sense, responsible legislation in response to the migrant crisis.

The State Budget adopted earlier this month included $1 billion for reimbursement of 29% of the costs related to the migrant crisis for New York City. The State Comptroller MUST provide a full accounting of the taxpayer dollars being used by the state in response to this crisis and keep the public informed similar to the way COVID funding was tracked throughout the pandemic on the agency’s website.

Our legislation in response to this crisis MUST be taken up on the floor of the Senate immediately. These bills would:  

•  Prohibit the housing of migrants on SUNY campuses (Stec);
•  Prohibit the housing of migrants in K-12 schools in New York City (Lanza);
• Prohibit the housing of migrants in K-12 schools throughout the state (Weik); and
• Institute the New Yorkers Combating Alien Recidivism and Ending Sanctuary (NY CARES) Act, prohibits local governments and entities thereof, including sheriff departments, municipal police departments and district attorney's offices, from adopting laws or poliies, which impede or interfere with the enforcement of federal immigration laws (Murray).

The Democrats in charge of state government opened up our state to the influx of illegal immigrants and now are overwhelmed with the number of migrants coming into our state. Worse is New York Democrats have NO plan to address the crisis they created. My colleagues and I have offered some reasonable measures to deal with this crisis but ultimately New York Democrats need to work with federal officials to secure our borders and STOP illegal immigrants from pouring into our state before the strain put on our local communities become more than they can bear.

“When Democrats rushed to declare New York a sanctuary city, they ignored the financial costs and consequences of their actions. Despite receiving $1 billion in aid in the state budget to manage this self-inflicted crisis, Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Hochul are instead looking to pass costs and responsibilities onto upstate communities and SUNY campuses that lack the infrastructure and financial resources to handle this issue. This is absolutely unacceptable and I’m proud to join my Senate Republican colleagues in taking action to ensure our region’s taxpayers aren’t responsible for the mayor and governor’s costly political grandstanding,” said Senator Dan Stec.

"We pass laws for a reason and that reason is to keep our citizens and our communities safe. Prohibiting local law enforcement from enforcing laws and working with their federal partners does just the opposite. Not only is it sending a terrible message… that laws won’t be enforced… but it also makes our citizens and our communities less safe," said NYS Senator Dean Murray, 3rd Senate District. 

“Housing migrants in schools is just another crazy idea to come from leftist politicians who do not have real ideas to solve the migrant crisis.   My bill will prohibit the City of New York from housing migrants in schools, protect our students and reassure parents that their children will have a safe learning environment.  This bill is necessary to combat federal and state policies dealing with the migrant crisis – a crisis created by failed Democrat leadership,” said Deputy Senate Republican Leader Andrew Lanza.   

“Mayor Adams planned to move migrants into as many as 20 public school gymnasiums. A school gym might be a last resort to shelter during a hurricane, but it is not a responsible plan to house migrants looking to relocate their lives. I don't think the Mayor or Governor Hochul understand the true responsibility they have volunteered to take on. Outraged parents have every right to speak out against this ill-planned move, with students still attending school for at least another month. The legislation I am introducing will ensure that is not even an option as New York City continues to bus migrants into other communities throughout New York State,” said Senator Alexis Weik.

Last week, the Senate Republican Conference sent a letter to Governor Hochul requesting transparency on the decisions being made around the migrant crisis. They also introduced legislation to:

•  Ensure local control by clarifying a local state of emergency supersedes one declared by the Governor when the two are in conflict, and to
• Protect vulnerable populations from being displaced in order to house migrants. ​​​​​​​

“My Democratic colleagues can continue to bury their heads in the sand, but the migrant crisis here in New York is not going away anytime soon. We need a plan and solutions, and New Yorkers deserve complete transparency,” concluded Senator Ortt.