(Headline USA) New York’s Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul defended busing hundreds of illegal immigrants into rural parts of the state, claiming the migrants are “absolutely here legally.”
More than 7,000 illegals have arrived in New York City over the past few weeks, leading Mayor Eric Adams to start sending them upstate—much to the chagrin of the affected communities, which largely lack the resources to accommodate them.
Around the expiration of the pandemic-era Title 42 protections in early May, the city saw more than 5,800 people arrive in just one week.
More than 48,000 migrants are currently housed in New York City shelters.
Hochul was asked about Adams’s decision to ship them off elsewhere during a press conference and said she supported it.
“We’ve been encouraging them to give as much notice as possible to county executives. Given the scale of people affected, it’s not always going to be perfect,” she said.
“It’s all about just preparing,” she continued. “And a lot of people say just the sky is falling before anything has even happened.”
Hochul went on to suggest that New Yorkers should stop complaining about how the migrants are detracting from community resources.
“The vast majority of these people who are simply seeking legal humanitarian relief,” she claimed.
“They’re here legally. They’re absolutely here legally,” she continued. “They have a right to seek asylum in this country based on what they’ve had to endure in their home countries.”
Although roughly 90% of asylum claims are deemed spurious, the flood of illegals under the Biden administration’s open-border policies has led to backlogs that will allow some to remain in the country for years, if not decades, without ever having their claims adjudicated.
Some communities are pushing back, telling “sanctuary city” New York to keep its newly imported residents.
The rural town of Colonie, located in Albany County, was granted a temporary court order last week to prevent Adams from sending more asylum seekers there. The town government argued it does not have the capacity or resources to provide for the migrants, and accused the city of failing to properly communicate with town officials about the migrants’ transfer.
Adams’s “refusal to respect our county executive’s order places the public health, safety and welfare of our residents and those migrants on his bus in jeopardy,” said Colonie Town Supervisor Peter Crummey.
