While county leaders continue to resist New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ attempts to relocate migrants upstate, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, speaking to reporters Monday, seemed to distance himself from the situation.
A number of county executives, including Democrats and Republicans, have issued executive orders attempting to ban hotels from contracting with the city to accept migrants. New York City has been contracting with hotels outside the five boroughs to house growing numbers of migrants and asylum seekers arriving in New York City. Some of the counties with emergency orders in effect include Broome, Tioga, Chemung, Schuyler and several other upstate counties.
Earlier Monday, Governor Kathy Hochul called policies by some leaders in the state quote “bigoted.”
“I also want to say to parts of our country and our state who are enacting bigoted policies based on fear and intimidation, join us. Join us. Let people know the true story of what New York is,” Hochul said while calling for the federal government to allow asylum seekers to be formally employed.
Speaking with reporters in Binghamton Monday, Delgado declined to say whether he also regarded Broome County’s order as “bigoted.”
"I'm not going to speak to what's being bigoted or not bigoted,” Delgado said. “I think it's more important to think about how can we have a conversation.”
Delgado said he wants to ensure that dialogue is happening.
"When we have these conversations it is incumbent upon us all to think about the people we serve and how we can be constructive in bringing everybody to the table in a thoughtful and respectful and dignified way that reflects our shared humanity,” Delgado said.
Hochul recently suggested opening state-owned facilities like SUNY campuses to temporarily house the influx of migrants. She has so far resisted bipartisan calls to declare a statewide emergency for the purposes of opening up avenues for FEMA to fund some of the response efforts.
