Broome County executive to issue order banning hotels from accepting asylum seekers

Broome County Executive Jason Garnar will announce an executive order meant to ban lodging establishments from accepting asylum seekers on behalf of New York City, WSKG has confirmed.

The announcement will bring Broome County in line with other counties including Orange, Rockland and Rensselaer, in issuing orders meant to prevent New York City from signing contracts with hotels to house asylum seekers in recent days.

This comes as the U.S. braces for a major wave of asylum seekers to enter the country, as the federal COVID-19 emergency expires at midnight Thursday, and with it, Title 42, a Trump-era policy allowing migrants to be returned to Mexico once detained.

New York City has been challenged in providing emergency assistance to hundreds of displaced asylum seekers. A memo obtained by CBS2 shows that city officials anticipate as many as 800 asylum seekers to arrive per day after the expiration of Title 42.

Multiple sources familiar with Broome County government operations confirmed that Garnar would issue the executive order Thursday, modeled after one issued by Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus on Monday. That order bans hotels, motels and other short-term rentals from entering into a contract with municipal governments, such as New York City, for the purpose of housing asylum seekers.

Garnar is set to announce specifics of the order in a press conference Thursday afternoon.

Despite Orange County’s order, a bus of asylum seekers arrived in Newburgh Thursday, drawing into question just how effective executive action will be in preventing New York City from moving the migrants.