Orange County Extends Emergency Order Over NYC Migrants

GOSHEN, NY — The state of emergency in Orange County that was designed to combat New York City’s plan to house asylum seekers in local hotels was extended by County Executive Steven Neuhaus Tuesday.

The extension of the emergency order states that “all hotels, motels and/or any facilities allowing short-term rentals do not contract and/or accept said migrants and/or asylum seekers for long-term housing within Orange County.”

Neuhaus issued the first state of emergency Saturday when the county learned that the administration of Mayor Eric Adams planned to house up to 340 single men in Rockland and Orange counties.

The second emergency order comes in the wake of a promise from state and NYC officials that no buses with migrants would arrive in Orange County until further notice.

That promise was soon reversed when two buses with about 20 to 30 men arrived at the Crossroads Hotel in the town of Newburgh.

Neuhaus filed two lawsuits to stop the city from temporarily housing asylum seekers in the county.

A judge on Tuesday granted the county’s application for a temporary restraining order that stopped the NYC mayor from sending any more migrants to Orange County. The court order allows the 186 asylum seekers already at the Crossroads Hotel and Ramada by Wyndham in the town of Newburgh to remain in the county. If any of the 186 migrants were to leave, they could not be replaced, the order stated.

The new executive order argues that the federal government has failed or refused to anticipate that thousands of migrants are crossing the United States border into Texas and that the Texas governor “has seen fit” to relocate them to New York City.

Neuhaus’s emergency order said there is no reason to think the migrants will leave Orange County after NYC stops paying for houses and services.

He also said that local zoning codes don’t allow temporary residence hotels or other residential facilities to be used as long-term housing.

Neuhaus said the asylum seekers will eventually face eviction from illegal hotels, which will result in large-scale homelessness, potentially at the cost and expense of Orange County.