Will migrants arriving in NJ be sent to Hunterdon County?

Though no formal plans have been announced, Hunterdon County, state and federal officials are opposing a suggestion that the former Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital on the Glen-Gardner and Lebanon Township border be used utilized as a potential processing facility for undocumented migrants.

However, New Jersey State Police spokesman Charles Marchan said Friday, "We don’t anticipate the need to use this facility at this time given the low number of migrants that have settled in New Jersey over the past few weeks."

Hagedorn had been identified as a potential site if there is a need "to shelter a mass group of individuals, not limited to migrants, but also including weather-related events or large-scale emergencies," Marchan said in a statement.

"Nearly all of these individuals who have arrived in New Jersey have continued in transit to New York City," he said.

“This action has the potential to overwhelm public health and human service capabilities administered by Hunterdon County,” County Commissioner Jeff Kuhl said at the board’s Tuesday meeting.

“Despite assurances to the contrary, such a move will likely overwhelm local resources in the area, including volunteer fire and EMS agencies. In addition, there are no mass transit facilities located nearby the former Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital, which is located a top of a mountain, surrounded by forest,” Kuhl added.

In a statement Thursday, state Sen. Doug Steinhardt, a Republican who represents Hunterdon County, criticized the suggestion.

"The impractical and illegal placement of undocumented migrants, especially in areas that lack the infrastructure, restricts services that our constituents rely on and I will continue to advocate against that approach. It’s time the president and governor do their jobs and address," the senator said.

U.S Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who represents Hunterdon County, called the idea "completely unacceptable."

"This creates a serious concern to our community's security and resources. President Biden's complete absence of border security policies has unleashed this kind of crisis across our entire country and now another wakeup call has come to our backyard yet again," Kean said in a statement Friday. "We cannot ignore the consequences of allowing millions of unvetted illegal migrants to enter our country. It's crucial that every level of government prioritizes the safety and well-being of our communities while also addressing the root causes of this issue."

The issue has arisen after hundreds of migrants were dropped off of buses on New Year's Eve at train stations in Fanwood, Edison and other New Jersey towns.

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The migrants were left at the train stations to bypass new charter busing restrictions ordered by New York City Mayor Eric Adams who said previous migrant arrivals are overwhelming city services.

After Adams issued an executive order restricting where and when buses carrying migrants can drop off passengers in the city, within days drivers began dropping passengers at New Jersey train stations instead, state officials said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, launched the Operation Lone Star busing effort in April 2022, arguing self-declared sanctuary cities like New York, Chicago and Denver should help shoulder the burden of assisting migrants, instead of forcing Texas to pay for managing immigrants traveling across the southern border.

Commissioner Kuhl said county officials will keep a close eye on the situation.

“The Board of Commissioners is going to continue to monitor this situation and if needed, consider additional actions to oppose this not well thought out proposed idea by the State,” he said.

Steinhardt blamed President Joe Biden and Gov. Phil Murphy for the potential use of the facility.

“New Jersey communities are already stretched too thin as it is and now risk being overwhelmed because of President Biden’s blatant disregard for the immigration crisis and Governor Murphy’s sanctuary state policies,” the senator said. “We’ve seen the immense burden this issue has caused in New York because of their inaction, and it is only a matter of time until that burden is placed on our municipalities as made clear by the state’s attempt to place undocumented migrants in Hunterdon County."

The hospital opened in 1907 as the state's Sanatorium for Tuberculosis Diseases where patients benefited from clean air and access to the outdoors.

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Although in its early days it was planned that only “incipients” or “curables" would be treated, it soon housed tuberculosis patients of all levels of severity, leading the hospital to treat more than 10,000 people between 1907 and 1929.

When tuberculosis declined after widespread inoculation campaigns, the sanitarium closed in the 1970s.

In 1977, the Senator Garret W. Hagedorn Gero-Psychiatric Hospital was built on the property and became a state nursing home and, later, a 288-bed psychiatric hospital for seniors.

However, in 2012, that facility was closed and was transitioned into Veteran's Haven North, a transitional housing program for homeless veterans under the state's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

The 592-acre site is now also a preserve as part of the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Migrant crisis in NJ: Is Phil Murphy eyeing Hunterdon processing site?