Schuyler County Legislature Chair Carl Blowers has extended for an additional five days the county’s state of emergency over the possible relocation of illegal immigrants within the state, County Legislature Chairman Carl Blowers and County Administrator Fonda Chronis announced Tuesday.
The extended order keeps the county under a Local State of Emergency that prohibits municipal programs from housing illegal migrants or asylum seekers. It continues to prohibit any hotel, short-term rental, and motel in the county from entering into a contract to house them or risking daily fines.
Like the original order, Blowers’ extension was issued in response to plans by New York City Mayor Eric Adams to send asylum seekers to other areas of the state.
The extension cites Schuyler County’s status as the second least populous county in the state and finds the county doesn’t have the appropriate services to take in large numbers of people without time “to gather needed information to develop a strategy that best fits the county’s needs and maintains public health and safety.” It also finds that Adams, along with federal and state officials, “are only just beginning to provide any information and transparency” on the processes being used to relocate migrants to other areas.
Under the extended order, anyone found in violation of the emergency rules may be liable for a civil penalty of up to $2,000 per migrant/asylum seeker per day and could be found guilty of a Class B Misdemeanor. The Schuyler County Sheriff is authorized to issue appearance tickets for any violation and the County Attorney may commence civil lawsuits against violators as well.
Blowers has set the emergency order to be in effect for an additional five days unless sooner modified, extended, or revoked, and may be extended for additional periods.
A complete conformed copy of the Extended Emergency Order is available here: https://www.scribd.com/document/645832938/SCHUYLER-COUNTY-CONTINUATION-OF-THE-DECLARATION-OF-A-LOCAL-STATE-OF-EMERGENCY