Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus declared on Monday, May 8, a county-wide State of Emergency in response to the plan from New York City Mayor Eric Adams to send asylum seekers to Orange County.

According to Justin Rodriguez, Assistant to the County Executive for Communications and Media Relations, the asylum seekers have not yet arrived in Orange County.

Town Supervisor Gil Piaquadio issued a statement Tuesday on the situation.

"The current controversy of relocating Asylum Seekers is a dilemma created at the Federal level. As Town Supervisor for the Town of Newburgh, I feel that the borders are not adequately managed as they had been with many of our ancestors, " Piaquadio said.

"On Friday, May 5^th, the Mayor of New York City Eric Adams, contacted me seeking my feelings on a plan to relocate 60 single male Asylum Seekers to the Town of Newburgh for a period of four months at the Crossroads Hotel located in the Town of Newburgh.  Mayor Adams indicated that the City of New York would be responsible for all the expenses associated with housing these Asylum Seekers.  At this point, as Town Supervisor, I decided to deal with Mayor Adams directly.

"I informed Mayor Adams about my concerns with regard to the absence of background checks on these 60 men.  I told Mayor Adams that the safety of the Town of Newburgh residents is most important.  In addition, at the conclusion of the four months, I reminded Mayor Adams that these 60 men would be ineligible to receive Social Services benefits because they are not citizens of the United States.

"A shelter is not permitted at The Crossroads Hotel.  The Town of Newburgh has a litany of procedures for outside governments to follow when these outside governments, like New York City, propose a use in another jurisdiction.  New York City still needs to follow these procedures.

Lastly, the Crossroads Hotel, located adjacent to a residential zone, has very few services within walking distance.

"Upon the conclusion of our correspondence, Mayor Adams acknowledged my concerns and Mayor Adams indicated that he would delay any relocation action until all my concerns and questions were answered to my satisfaction."

With the support of the Town of Newburgh board members, Piaquadio presented a resolution Monday night  for an injunction if the plan should move forward and the hotels are occupied. The town board members, minus Councilwoman Betty Greene who was absent, approved the resolution.

According to local zoning codes, the usage of hotels is only for 30 days. Within the code compliance letter discussing the Crossroads Hotel, the letter identified Section 185-3 of the Municipal Zoning Code provided the following definition: “Hotel - One or more buildings offering transient lodging accommodations on a fee or hire basis to the general public, and which provide rooms or areas for group assembly and a central kitchen only and a central dining room within the building or in an accessory building. A hotel shall not constitute an individual’s or family’s primary residence and shall not be construed to be a multiple dwelling.” If the plan were to move forward, housing of the asylum seekers would be in violation of the town code.

The county state of emergency notice released on Monday afternoon addressed the national immigration crisis at the United States’s southern border and criticized the federal government’s responses to the on-going effort, Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, for sending immigrants to New York City and criticized Mayor Eric Adams and New York City for their materials in promoting housing in Orange County.

A draft copy of the resolution provided by the Town of Newburgh’s Clerk Office authorized legal action in State Supreme Court against the hotel owners and that the town engage special counsel in the matter.

Subsequently, notices were hand-delivered to potential hotels and motels within the Town of Newburgh, making them aware of the Town Code that a shelter is not permitted use for a hotel or motel and that the Town of Newburgh will take whatever corrective action is necessary should the Town Code be violated.