Nearly a year ago, migrants began arriving in Albany County as part of a political dispute stretching from the southern border to New York City. While the newcomers try to assimilate, local leaders say work continues to accommodate the new arrivals.
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy issued a state of emergency in May 2023 as word began to spread that New York City planned to send asylum-seekers upstate.
Later that month, on a Sunday morning in the Albany County Town of Colonie, a busload of migrants arrived from New York City to the SureStay Plus Best Western Hotel. Republican Town Supervisor Peter Crummey protested that New York City Mayor Eric Adams did not notify the town and blamed the Democrat for ignoring McCoy's emergency order that called for a “collaborative and coordinated deliberate plan” between state and local officials and non-profit agencies ahead of any such arrival.
Days later, Mayor Kathy Sheehan welcomed the city of Albany's first busload of migrants. "The very first thing that two of the asylum seekers asked me was, 'Can we work? We really want to work,'" said Sheehan.
More buses followed. McCoy says Albany County currently has 900, the biggest chunk of migrant population outside New York City, many of them anxious to work and establish legal residency while navigating complicated red tape.
"So I'm trying to address that," McCoy said. "We're trying to address rental issues, because people can't afford it. And the families we've got living on the street and taking care of these people. And but the most the other alarming thing was, they don't get appointments for five years. So they're here for five years before they even see a judge."
McCoy, who just returned from a trip to the southern border, says 95% of the people crossing just want a better life. Sheehan says the challenge around how long it takes to get people their working papers needs to be addressed.
"One of the things that we could be looking at is, is there a way that we can work with our employer community, to connect individuals prior to that work status to, you know, some sort of apprenticeship or a way of working around some of those requirements. I know that it makes for a challenging legal landscape," Sheehan said.
In October, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the state identified more than 18,000 job openings with nearly 400 employers willing to hire migrants who have attained legal work status. Then in January, Hochul eased requirements for asylum seekers to find jobs in state government, including dropping application requirements such as English language proficiency and proof of a high school diploma.
Refugee and Immigration Support Services of Emmaus Executive Director Daniel Butterworth says the newcomers' needs are extensive and RISSE is doing all it can to help as many as possible, fielding 600 appointments since last May.
"Across our various programs, adult English language classes, our case management program, immigration assistance, employment. This past year, all of our total numbers doubled," Butterworth said. "And in many cases, you know, if someone is not yet work authorized or doesn't have documentation, or has no other means of support, whether from New York City's shelter system or elsewhere, it's been really difficult to come up with solutions to be able to serve them effectively and make sure that they have everything they need to survive and ultimately thrive."
Butterworth says the migrants want to assimilate. By the end of 2023, RISSE had registered 500 English language students.
"We've got some limitations on what we are able to do. But all of this, for small community-based agency, we've been operating well beyond our means for the past year. And it's becoming difficult. And it's not just RISSE. This is most all of the service providers in our coalition that have been working with asylum seekers, we are all stretched very, very thin. And we've had some really amazing success stories. You know, folks are starting to, as they get their work authorizations, find jobs in the area, are moving out of the hotels and renting apartments and starting to establish themselves, all while continuing to go through the asylum process, the immigration process, which in and of itself is a long and winding road,” said Butterworth.
There have been a few bumps in that road. The arrival of a busload of migrants last July at the Super8 motel in Rotterdam in Schenectady County raised the hackles of townsfolk and local politicians. Controversy continues to this day. Conservative town councilor Joe Mastroianni says of the four Capital Region hotels housing migrants, Super8 has a good number of women and children. He says the situation becomes a safety concern.
"They have hotplates, electric frying pans, electric boilers that they are using to cook for themselves. But that is not permitted according to our code. That is a motel that's designed for travelers and people having short visits, and then eating out. It's not designed or built as a shelter," Mastroianni said.
Carman Fire Department Chief John Nuzback spoke at a recent town board meeting. "There are life safety issues there. And when there is a catastrophic incident, the potential loss of life of not only the residents there of the first responders could be great. You look at any other major incident has happened, they always go back and they say, ‘Oh, look at these warning signs of what we could have avoided this.’ This is your warning sign,” said Nuzback.
Officials says regular code inspections are conducted. Mastroianni expects the town board will continue looking into the issue when it meets again Wednesday.
