Onondaga County is preparing for the potential that migrants streaming over the southern border because of a change of federal policy, will come to central New York.
At this point, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said the county is “preparing for the unknown.” He’s meeting with local agencies, and government officials to get a sense of what kind of capacity there is to care for an influx of migrants.
"Hopefully by the beginning of next week I’ll have an idea what our capacity number looks like so we can continue to plan and prepare for that, but it’s something we just don’t know what’s going to happen," McMahon said.
Once McMahon gets those numbers, he’ll be able to determine whether the county should issue an emergency order preventing hotels and shelters from housing migrants shipped from New York City. Four counties in New York state, including nearby Oneida County, have already done that, contending they don’t have the capacity to take the migrants. While that is one scenario, another scenario the county has to come to terms with, is migrants who come to central New York on their own.
"Migrants from the southern border may come into our community, directly to Onondaga County, and that would mean it’s our legal responsibility to work with those individuals to provide shelter and services," McMahon said.
McMahon said what the county can do all depends on “capacity."
"It’s not just roofs, we’re talking about social service support, we’re talking about health support, we’re talking about law enforcement support,” McMahon said.
