Suffolk Sites Show Up on New York Migrant List

Antennas went up in Suffolk last week when three county sites showed up on a list from New York Mayor Eric Adams for the relocation of migrants from the city. Adams, who threw open the doors to the Big Apple with his Sanctuary City policy, is scrambling to find shelters for more than 100,000 immigrants who took him up on his offer. Appearing on the mayor’s list were Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Brentwood, and the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center in Nissequogue River State Park.

As concern grew among residents and local officials, Gov. Kathy Hochul, reportedly lobbied by county Executive Steve Bellone, announced that she would not support the mayor’s plans for Suffolk. The governor also announced the extension of her executive order declaring a state of emergency in response to the flood of immigrants, a measure she said will allow the state to quickly fund National Guard troops who are providing support at migrant shelters, as well as purchase supplies, food and equipment.

"The Executive Order is necessary for New York State’s continued response to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis and provides the state with the ability for a more robust response," Hochul said. The governor has earmarked $1.5 billion in taxpayer funds for the migrants this year, funds that are quickly dwindling as Mayor Adams warned the crisis will cost the city upwards of $12 billion over the next two years.

Suffolk was sued by Adams after the legislature voted to hire a special counsel to advise it of its options as it became a target for possible migrant relocations. A Manhattan Supreme Court judge recently ruled that the lawsuits Adams levied against the county and 31 other New York municipalities that took similar steps must be heard in the individual jurisdictions, rather than one combined case in the city. Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar was dragged into the mayor’s court action after she declared a state of emergency stating that hotels, motels and other temporary lodging facilities are not permitted under existing town code for use as permanent housing. “There is nothing humanitarian about a sanctuary city sending busloads of people to a rural town that does not have the infrastructure to care for them,” Aguiar said. “The federal government has failed or refused to anticipate, appreciate or react to the volume of migrants overwhelming the southern border and has failed to defend the sovereignty of the nation, resulting in thousands of migrants crossing the U.S. border virtually unchecked. There is reasonable apprehension of immediate danger of public emergency of hundreds, or potentially thousands, of persons being transported to the Town of Riverhead.” Suffolk was also named in the suit after Bellone said he would form an intergovernmental team to deal with the migrant issue. Brookhaven officials had their antennas go up when Stony Brook University was mentioned as a migrant site and residents expressed concern over the potential use of the idle William Floyd Estate, a federally-owned site managed by the National Park Service.

“Obviously, these facilities that we're talking about are state facilities so, to a certain degree, the state can utilize their facilities in whatever way that suits them,” said Ryan Murphy, Public Safety & Emergency Management administrator for the Town of Southampton, of the Gabreski Airport location. In his opinion, neither the county portion of the airport or the part used by the Air National Guard would be suitable for a migrant shelter, Murphy said, noting that Southampton College was also mentioned as a relocation center.

“I definitely asked them to notify me if they became aware of any kind of changes to their plans,” Murphy said. “If it's going to be something that could potentially impact the town of Southampton and our residents, if it becomes an additional burden on services, a demand to the community, we just want to make sure that we're dialed into that and know what's going on.”

According to town Supervisor Edward Romaine, the only site previously mentioned for migrants in Brookhaven was Stony Brook University which, he noted, was the site of a state-funded tent city used for testing and other activities during the Covid pandemic. “So that could be resurrected again, but that's a rumor. I don't know that to be true,” the supervisor said. “This is a federal problem, of course, and the mayor is now saying as much, but no one wanted to criticize Joe Biden, and they're beginning to criticize him now because it's costing the city a fortune,” Romaine continued. “They have people sleeping on the streets, they don't have enough places to put them. They put a tent city up at Creedmoor, a tent city up on Randall’s Island. And now they have permission to set up at Bennett Field. But that isn't going to house all these migrants, and what do you do when winter comes?”

Romaine, a candidate for Suffolk County executive, called President Biden’s immigration policy a “complete failure.” He expressed concerns over the open southern border saying, “They are not checking people who are carrying drugs; they’re not checking for criminal backgrounds, for disease or human trafficking. There’s no check, there’s no check on anyone.” “The problem is the immigrants don't have the language skills and they don't have the training to do even basic jobs,” said Marie Masters of the Long Island-based Truth Matters. “This is totally different from a few years ago where you saw single men come up, get to work, and send money home. Now they bring their families with them and now they are going to need schooling for their children and health services. This will have to be paid for by the working taxpayers and its a disgrace that elected officials in our own country would do this to us.”

The migrant crisis is seen as dragging down the Democrats in this year’s election, similar to the way their cashless bail and antilaw enforcement policies caused a Republican “Red Wave” last year. The wave saw four GOP reps elected to Congress from Long Island, tipping the balance of the House and sending Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the sidelines.

With Hochul plummeting in recent polls due to her handling of the crisis, she’s weighing in on Long Island issues, political observers say, because with Bruce Blakeman as Nassau County executive, she doesn’t want Suffolk to fall to Romaine, another Republican. His opponent, Dave Calone, is saddled with the migrant crisis caused by Biden, Hochul and his other fellow Democrats. They were looking at the Long Island seats to help win back the House, but are starting to see that view fade with the thousands of immigrants knocking at the door.