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ALBANY — From his vantage point on New York’s northern border with Canada, veteran federal agent Brandon Budlong has concluded New York’s sanctuary policies have made it a magnet for those entering the country without authorization.

New York’s decision to make undocumented immigrants eligible for driver’s licenses and its status as a sanctuary state “totally incentivizes” the influx of undocumented immigrants into the state, said Budlong, a U.S. Border Patrol agent who is the president of the National Border Patrol Council Local 2724.

Budlong spoke to CNHI about the national debate over border security, one that has been heating up as conservative Republican governors have been steering migrants from the southern border to places such as New York City and Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

“Because of the Green Light law (the New York statute that qualified undocumented immigrants for New York driver’s licenses) we can’t even access the motor vehicle database because we enforce immigration policies and laws,” Budlong said. “It makes it very hard for us to catch anyone after the fact.”

“New York is the perfect place to be if you want to abscond,” he added

Democrats are accusing Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, both Republicans, of trying to spread chaos and using immigrants for political theater by directing them to sanctuary states.

At the White House Tuesday, Karine Jean-Pierre, press secretary for President Joe Biden, said the administration is working with officials in Delaware after learning of a new plan to send migrants to Rehoboth Beach, a resort community where Biden has a summer home.

In Florida, DeSantis insisted the migrants moved to Martha’s Vineyard, where former President Barack Obama has a home, were sent there on a “clearly voluntary” basis, adding: “Why wouldn’t they want to go, given where they were?”

According to New York City officials, some 11,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City by bus from Arizona and Texas in just the past four months, leaving the shelter system strained.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has suggested using cruise ships as temporary shelters for the new arrivals.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has voiced outrage that migrants getting off buses in New York City last month had been wearing bar-coded wristbands put on them in Texas. “Nobody deserves to be treated like an animal,” Hochul told WCBS.

At a New York City event Tuesday, Hochul told reporters she is encouraging federal officials to give migrants the ability to work legally while their applications for legal status are being processed.

Hochul also said the director of state operations, Kathryn Garcia, is working with local officials to locate housing for the migrants. She added that her administration is also asking the Biden administration to provide federal assistance for what she acknowledged is a “crisis.”

But Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Saratoga County, one of the top House Republicans, argued the crisis is one that has been fueled by Hochul’s support for sanctuary policies.

Stefanik argued the Green Light law be repealed, contending it has been an incentive for undocumented people to come to New York,

“Since April, I have been demanding that Hochul speak out against the transportation of illegal immigrants in the dead of night into New York by the Biden Administration, but she has remained silent,” the congresswoman said.

Hochul aides did not respond to Stefanik’s criticisms.

Michael Kink, director of Strong Economy for All, a progressive advocacy group backed by unions, said refugees who have resettled in upstate New York have enhanced the communities where they reside, citing Utica as an example.

“They have contributed to their communities’ health and economic revival,” said Kink, contending that state financial support for refugee populations would be an investment that pays dividends for those communities in the long term.

The New York Immigration Coalition, an advocacy organization that championed the Green Light law, has launched a “Welcoming New York Campaign.” The group says it is designed to “keep pressure on every level of government to ensure a quicker and more efficient response to the pressing needs of new arrivals” being sent to New York.

The Coalition is urging Hochul and the Legislature to provide additional funding for emergency legal support, to create “welcome centers” across the state, to fund temporary shelters and to set up a state program offering housing vouchers, job placement and funding for transportation outside of New York.

In Florida, DeSantis has signaled that sanctuary states should expect to see more unannounced planeloads of recently arrived migrants.

“These sanctuary jurisdictions can put their money where their mouth is, they can provide the resources, they can do all of that. and then once that happens, the chance of folks coming to Florida is probably very, very low,” DeSantis said.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, told Albany television station WRGB Tuesday she supports an investigation aimed at determining whether a criminal act occurred when migrants from Venezuela were sent from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. DeSantis has acknowledged that the flight was funded by the state of Florida.

Saturday, 11 a.m., at Mercer Funeral Home in Bluefield.

Saturday, 11 a.m., memorial service at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

97, of Bluefield, VA, died Friday, September 30, 2022. Arrangements are incomplete at Mercer Funeral Home & Crematory in Bluefield.

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