Queens pol brings asylum seeker crisis to Albany
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Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar attends a rally against a proposed tent shelter for migrants at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. On Thursday, Rajkumar introduced a bill that would require New York municipalities to accept migrants sent to them from other municipalities in the state. Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
A Queens state legislator has introduced two bills which she hopes leads to a heavier and more coordinated statewide response to the ongoing asylum seeker crisis in New York City.
Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar, who represents the area of Richmond Hill, Glendale and Woodhaven, introduced two bills on Thursday, both of which aim to address the migrant crisis and formulate a more coordinated statewide response and force upstate municipalities – some which have so far been reluctant to accept migrants – to do so.
The other bill would establish a statewide asylum seeker services coordinator, who would be appointed jointly by the mayor and governor.
“Given the gravity of the situation that New York City is facing, this is the time for New York State to step in and lead a statewide response,” Rajkumar said in a phone interview with the Eagle on Thursday. “New York City is facing one of the greatest humanitarian crises ever in its history, so my legislative package sets up a statewide response.”
“It creates a statewide decompression strategy, that's what this does,” she added.
Though she’s a Queens representative, Rajkumar’s sponsorship of the asylum seeker crisis bills, which have yet to receive co-sponsors in the Senate, is not surprising. The lawmaker has proven to be one of Mayor Eric Adams’ strongest allies in Albany and has often advocated for his positions and policies on the migrant crisis.
Rajkumar’s bill aims to accomplish that by legally forcing state municipalities to accept migrants, including the 27 state counties which have already issued orders against the placing of migrants in hotels and other areas within their borders.
The bill specifically states that “No municipal corporation in the state shall refuse, prohibit, or otherwise prevent a resettling municipal corporation from resettling asylum seekers into such municipal corporation.”
The bill also says that the “resettling municipal corporation” or the area sending the migrants to a new place in the state, covers the cost of that resettlement. For instance, an upstate county would be required to accept migrants coming from New York City, provided New York City pays for it, under the legislation.
The bill also stipulates that county property cannot be used to house the migrants without the county's permission.
“We all have to come together as a state and everyone has to do their part to solve this crisis,” said Rajkumar. “Because we are all in this together.”
Unless the legislature is called into a special session – which Governor Kathy Hochul said she’d consider on Thursday – the bills won’t be voted on until January, at the earliest.
Adams has expressed his displeasure with upstate counties who have refused to take in migrants. Over the weekend, he said the ongoing crisis would “destroy” New York City due its ever growing cost as the city has had 110,000 migrants arrive since last spring.
Rajkumar called it a “crisis of epic proportions.”
“City services will be cut, and we need to take action immediately,” she said.
She says that conversations with other lawmakers are “occurring now,” when asked how she felt her upstate colleagues will treat the legislation.
“Even a few months ago some of my upstate colleagues had to address the migrant issue, they are also concerned because the fate of our entire state depends upon New York City also being strong,” she said. “New York City is an economic engine that really empowers the entire state.”
“I can tell you that I have received a lot of support from legislators all across the city that are interested in signing on,” she added.
However, hesitancy to accept migrants in certain areas is not unique to the city’s northern neighbors.
New York City electeds in Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens have held rallies against the construction of migrant shelters in recent weeks.
Rajkumar herself attended the rally against the once-planned tent shelter at Aqueduct Racetrack.
In her press release announcing the bills, Rajkumar said that “30 counties have taken executive action to prohibit resettlement based on specious arguments of public safety.”
“I do believe that migrants have to be sheltered, that's the law, that is the law in New York City,” she said. “But we just have to be smart about how we design those shelters, where we put them and the community has to be a part of the process, and that's what I've always stood for.”
“I think that we've been consistent,” she said. “The coalition of lawmakers and also the mayor and the governor only want the migrants to be able to work – they have come here for the American dream.”
As for the bill establishing a state coordinator, Rajkumar says that person will be tasked with coordinating a statewide, organized migrant plan, and although she hopes the position is more temporary, “that person will stay there as long as it takes,” she said.
With the state legislative session not scheduled to start again until January, it is Rajkumar’s hope that the governor calls a special session to address the migrant crisis sooner rather than later.
“I am very concerned, I think that all of the leaders in the state need to come together and be proactive about addressing this crisis immediately,” she said.
Neither Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie nor Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins responded to requests inquiring about their support of the bills.
