ALBANY — Mayor Kathy Sheehan said Tuesday the city does not expect to receive additional buses of migrants from New York City over the next few days, while Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said the county might sue New York City to stop additional buses from arriving if Mayor Eric Adams’ administration refuses to coordinate its efforts with Albany County.
Sheehan said any pause would give nonprofits and volunteers the time to provide initial legal assistance to asylum-seekers who have already arrived — something that would grow increasingly difficult if the numbers arriving increases.
“We’re hoping that there’s a little bit of a break so that we can help ensure that the folks that are doing the intake are able to do that effectively and really get their arms around what the immediate needs are of the 80 individuals who have arrived in Albany,” she said.
Sheehan said several nonprofits had been in discussions trying to coordinate the necessary resources before more than 100 migrants arrived at two hotels in Albany and Colonie over Memorial Day weekend. Their focus is trying to make sure the migrants don’t miss court dates connected to their asylum applications, she said.
Once migrants move upstate, their immigration cases are transferred from New York City to Buffalo, she said. The city did bring that issue up with New York City officials during discussions concerning asylum-seekers being moved out of the city.
“It was one of the concerns that we’ve had with respect to moving people up here is recognizing that it results in a change of venue for their asylum cases, and we just want to make sure that that doesn’t result in any bureaucratic snafus or any issues with people getting their cases heard,” she said.
The first bus carrying 25 migrants from New York City arrived after midnight Sunday in Colonie. Albany…
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