New York City has sent 1,511 illegal immigrants to upstate hotels since it began the practice in early May, according to an affidavit filed by Molly Schaeffer, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff.
Ms. Schaeffer submitted the filing to Orange County Supreme Court on July 20 in response to a county lawsuit that seeks to put a stop to the practice.
All of the illegal immigrants stay at hotels in five counties—Westchester, Dutchess, Albany, Erie, and Orange—with associated costs covered by the city.
The city had sent 186 illegal immigrants to two hotels in the Town of Newburgh before Orange County filed a lawsuit to stop the move and obtained a court order that bans further transfers for the duration of the litigation.
The lawsuit alleges that the city operated shelters in the county without following due process under state law and asked the court to invalidate the practice.
The case, filed on May 18, is one of five pending lawsuits engaged by both sides on the matter.
Since the court ban, the city hasn’t made any additional transfers to Orange County, Ms. Schaeffer said in the filing.
The city had wanted to send the illegal immigrants to neighboring Rockland County, too, but the plan was thwarted by swift legal action from that county’s leadership.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams started moving illegal immigrants to upstate hotels at the beginning of May, as weekly new arrivals in the city reached a historic high of 5,600 and overwhelmed its sheltering system.
Most of these individuals had crossed the southern border illegally before making their way into the city with the help of Texas and the City of El Paso, and were without housing or resources to care for themselves, according to the filing.
The city identified willing hotel partners upstate through a third-party contractor and bused only those illegal immigrants who had volunteered to these accommodations, with the cost of services—including lodging, meals, laundry, health care, and transportation—covered by the city.
While the hotel stays are paid for by the city, the illegal immigrants are free to leave the hotels at any time, according to a city representative at a May 16 court hearing.
“If they find their community, they are free to do that. They are in our care. They are not in our control ... they are not imprisoned at the facility,” the representative said.
Ms. Schaeffer said that the unprecedented influx of illegal immigrants continues to this day, with a net increase in shelter population of more than 1,550 people per week between late June and early July.
Every week, the city needs an estimated 375 new beds as well as 385 new rooms to shelter new arrivals, according to a July status report cited by Ms. Schaeffer in the filing.
The city plans to create thousands of new beds in the coming months, but it will still fall short of about 2,000 beds by mid-October.
The mayor’s team has recommended a multi-pronged approach to meet the illegal immigration crisis, according to Ms. Schaeffer.
This includes lobbying for federal and state funding, helping illegal immigrants to get work permits and live independently, seeking help from nonprofit organizations, identifying upstate communities that are open to receiving the illegal immigrants, and working with the state government on relocations outside the city, she said.
