Housing migrants on SUNY campuses seems unlikely for now, but remains under consideration
Jul. 6—ALBANY — Plans to house migrants in dormitories on upstate SUNY campuses appear to have been shelved, according to media reports and statements from Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul.
Last month, as shelters in New York City filled to their limits with immigrants who have been sent to the city from the southern border by order of the governor of Texas, state officials began talking about possible solutions. Some migrants were housed in hotels and motels around the city, and upstate counties began enacting states of emergency to block placement of migrants in their jurisdictions, which are now facing a court challenge.
St. Lawrence County issued a state of emergency in May intended to block migrant placement when Title 42 ended and some expected a surge of migrant crossings at the southern border. That state of emergency has been extended to July 10.
Upstate Republicans also filed legislation intending to block placement of migrants at SUNY campuses.
Sen. Daniel G. Stec, R-Queensbury, introduced a bill that would block placement of migrants at any SUNY dorms, although it didn't pass the legislature.
Some St. Lawrence County officials supported that legislation, which would have blocked migrant placement at SUNY Canton and SUNY Potsdam. District 15 Legislator Rita E. Curran, R-Massena, cited the county's growing lack of medical professionals as a reason to not host any migrants.
"We have a really hard time taking care of the medical problems we have in our own community," she said.
She said patients are often sent as far as Rochester and Albany for routine medical procedures and emergency operations, and pacemaker installations no longer happen in the county either.
"So to take on additional people when we know we don't have the ability to take care of them physically, I feel would be a very bad idea," she said.
And so far, it appears state officials are unwilling to place migrants in housing so far upstate. As the bulk of the people seeking shelter and aid come in to New York City, officials have focused on placing people in and around the metro area, including the lower Hudson Valley and Long Island, although Republican officials in those regions have protested and filed legal challenges. Smaller groups have been placed in available housing in western New York and the Capital Region.
In late June, Hochul said there are plenty of communities around the state that are willing to host groups of immigrants, and for the moment additional solutions are being considered but not employed.
"I think the shift has been realizing that, how quickly the summer goes, that if we get into a situation where we can't handle the flows, we can re-look at SUNY campuses," she said.
The governor also stressed that the goal in considering SUNY campuses was just to make an assessment of all options, and wasn't a commitment to using them as housing.
"We were just desperately looking for any time, any place where we could get a parking lot or a place to put up a tent," she said. "So, that was part of the effort. It was not saying they're definitely going to SUNY campuses, it was always part of a survey of available lands."
Meanwhile, New York City officials continue to consider a rash of options to house the migrants that are still arriving by the hundreds into the city weekly. Media reports indicate officials are considering public schools that won't be used during the summer, and many hotels remain in use, including dozens that were closed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Private office spaces that haven't been reopened since the pandemic are also being reviewed, and hotels farther up the Hudson River have been contracted to host families seeking aid and shelter.
