Asylum seekers arrive in Town of Newburgh

Two busloads deliver approximately 60 men

Posted 5/11/23

Two buses filed with asylum seekers rolled into the parking lot of the Crossroad Hotel, Thursday, in the Town of Newburgh. The arrival of approximately 60 adult males, mostly from Venezuela and …

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Asylum seekers arrive in Town of Newburgh

Two busloads deliver approximately 60 men

Posted

Two buses filed with asylum seekers rolled into the parking lot of the Crossroad Hotel, Thursday, in the Town of Newburgh. The arrival of approximately 60 adult males, mostly from Venezuela and Bolivia came two days after both the Town of Newburgh and the County of Orange had declared a state of emergency in an attempt to thwart their arrival from New York City.

The arrival also came just hours after Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus offered assurances that they would not be coming. 

“Last night, both the State and City (of New York) assured the Town of Newburgh and Orange County that no buses with asylum seekers would be here until further notice,” Neuhaus wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday afternoon.

“However, as many of you know, a bus carrying asylum seekers arrived at the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh this morning. The blame for this lies with the Mayor of New York, who originally opened the door for as many undocumented immigrants as possible to his self-proclaimed sanctuary city, and the Governor. She has sat back and done nothing as this crisis has negatively impacted New York State. The New York State Police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Supervisor of the Town of Newburgh and his police department were not notified that these buses would be arriving today.”

New York City is paying for their stay in the Town of Newburgh and elsewhere, with Mayor Eric Adams claiming that his city has no more room for all of the asylum seekers headed his way after crossing the U.S. - Mexican Border.

Newburgh Town Supervisor Gil Piaquadio, who Monday declared a state of emergency, posed several questions that he said were unanswered.

“I told Mayor Adams that the safety of Town of Newburgh residents is of utmost importance,” Piaquadio said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. He questioned if background checks had been performed on the men seeking asylum.

The town supervisor also questioned what would happen to them after their stay at the Crossroads Hotel has ended and how they can access services in an area that is largely residential, with little services within walking distance. The hotel is located on Lakeside Road, near the Ice Times sports complex. 

Piaquadio said that a shelter is not permitted in the Town of Newburgh and that hotels and motels within the town were given hand-delivered notices making them aware  that “a shelter is not permitted use for a hotel or motel and that the Town of Newburgh will take whatever corrective action is necessary should the Town Code be violated.”

Asylum Seeker Wilson Yriate from Bolivia, said he had traveled from his home country to the United States to escape violence against his life back home. With a wife and two young children, Yriate made the decision to leave so as to keep his family safe from any harm. Yriate, with only his passport and the clothes on his back, hopes to find work here in the states. 

Dervis Alejandro Rivas Lopez, originally from Venezuela and a former army sergeant in Colombia, had traveled to the border and arrived in Juarez then made it to El Paso, Texas. From El Paso, he was flown to Seattle then to New York and now has arrived in Newburgh. Lopez has come to the states in hopes of finding work and providing for his family back home. 

The arrival of the asylum seekers drew both protestors and supporter among the local residents. Members of grassroots organization For the Many and local elected officials greeted two buses.

“We do have a very diverse community but unfortunately, the community that we live in, we also have some very racist, some very racist, disrespectful people,” said Vanessa Cid, Community Organizer for For The Many.  

They were joined by the Workers Justice Center of New York, the New York Civil Liberties Union, Orange County Legislator Genesis Ramos and City of Newburgh Council member Giselle Martinez.

“I am completely against the rhetoric, messaging, and tone set by the County Executive through his order and supposed state of emergency,” said Ramos, who represents portion of the City and Town of Newburgh. “As a proud daughter of Honduran immigrants, I proudly stand by and support asylum seekers of all backgrounds and completely reject any form of xenophobia, racism, prejudice, or violence toward these individuals. We must do better at every level of government to ensure the safety, compassion, and support of these folks.” 

Martinez echod those comments.

“Shame on our County Executive and media outlets that are using hateful and inflammatory rhetoric to paint asylum seekers as ‘invaders,’” said  Martinez. “No human being is illegal. Now is the time to have compassion and welcome folks who have had a difficult journey seeking safety. For a country built by immigrants, we shouldn’t tolerate hate toward new immigrants. We welcome them with open arms.”

In addition to the mobilization and organization of legal resources, Ramos ;ledged to work with legal experts both in the Hudson Valley and New York City, to hep the new arrivals. 

I think a big part of our role here is just compassion and messaging and ensuring that the tone that we set is different than the tone of unfortunately, many in our community,” said Ramos. “It's disheartening, honestly, because I think that we fail to recognize all the contributions of immigrants in our country, in our state, in our very communities.”