Poll: Most New Yorkers oppose housing migrants at SUNY

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- A Siena Research poll shows 54 percent of New Yorkers oppose temporarily housing migrants on SUNY campuses. And this past legislative session, lawmakers attempted to move a bill that would provide health insurance for migrants. Our Capitol Correspondent, Amal Tlaige took a closer look at where the migrant crisis currently stands and how the state plans to react.

During session, lawmakers proposed a bill known as Coverage For All - which would use federal dollars to provide health insurance for undocumented people. That bill passed in the Senate, but not the Assembly. Assemblywoman and sponsor of the bill, Jessica González-Rojas told me what comes next. "And we’re hoping to work with the governor’s office and continue to work with our Assembly colleagues to advance this early in the year, but certainly doing our work over the summer and fall to continue to address any of the concerns the governor has regarding this legislation," she said.

One of those concerns is that New York taxpayers would be the ones paying for the coverage. In a letter sent to the Governor some Republicans in state congress, it said in part “...New York contributes billions each year in federal taxes, more than other states. Whether federal, or state, taxpayer dollars should never be spent on programs that reward, illegal immigration and exacerbate the Biden Administration’s out-of-control border crisis.”  

And when it comes to the proposal to house migrants at SUNY campuses, Assemblywoman González-Rojas said it's not a permanent solution, "I worry about these sort of patchwork solutions, it might be a good proposal for the meantime. So I think it is a little bit of a band-aid. We may have to look towards more long-term solutions, and we have to dress housing as the crisis that it is in the state, so there’s a lot of work to do in housing."

Congressman Paul Tonko weighed in, "I think it also speaks to the bigger picture, the absolute necessity to have sound immigration reform done that provides for a pathway to citizenship, that is far too long languished here." Congress has also proposed the Migrant Transparency Act, which would create reporting requirements around resettlement, transportation, or relocation of undocumented migrants. Something Republicans in congress say the federal government has provided little information on.