Since 130 immigrants were bussed to Orange County after crossing the Mexican border, some community leaders have protested, while others noted the opportunity to address local needs. Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus issued two executive orders, demanding that these immigrant deliveries stop, as their needs would overwhelm the county’s hotel and homeless facilities and services.
However, a circulating assertion that immigrants were displacing homeless veterans in hotels was refuted by Zak Constantine, Orange County Democratic Party chairman.
“They claimed homeless veterans were displaced to accommodate migrants at a Newburgh hotel - a story that was promptly debunked by hotel management, employees, and the CEO of the Dutchess County Vet2Vet Program,” Constantine said.
With long term concerns, Ruben Estrada, chairman of the American Latino Coalition, a conservative group, said of the immigrants, “I’m very disappointed. I call them illegal aliens. They shouldn’t be allowed into the country without being vetted. They could be terrorists or drug dealers. I don’t know why the government does this. Millions are coming in unvetted. It changes the country. I’m a proud Latino, but Latinos coming into the country need to be vetted. So do Chinese and Middle Eastern immigrants.”
Estrada also contended that immigrants should arrive knowing English.
“Nonprofits push for service providers speaking Spanish. At festivals people want me to do things in Spanish. I think people should learn English. I’m bilingual,” he said. He organizes the annual Hudson Valley Fiesta Latina at Musuem Village. “The Latino Coalition believes in education through families to speak English.”
He also decries the potential burden on costly government services, like education.
“Years ago you had to have identified family here if you wanted to come and not depend on anyone else. Now they’re put in hotels. That’s expensive. We’re not allowing people to make a difference. They take advantage. People in Colombia have been waiting eight years to come in. Nonprofits are helping them. We lack personnel. I feel bad about this. We need to do it the right way. We should open doors in an orderly, equitable way.”
Meanwhile, Kathy Brieger, executive director of Warwick Area Farmworkers Organization, sees the local scene differently.
“We’re negotiating who can do what,” she said of WAFO services, although she noted that the fate of the immigrants is being worked out between New York City and Orange County officials and the NYS Department of Labor. “There’s been a desperate need for farmworkers for several years. Many farmers don’t have enough workers. This year 30% more special farmworker visas were issued. Steve Neuhaus is fighting to not have the immigrants, but we’ll be here to provide support services—clothing, food pantry and ESL (English as a second language) I don’t know what help is needed, but we’re willing to help, whatever we can do.”
WAFO can also provide health services, as they work with Sun River Health, which has a Goshen branch that specializes in caring for agricultural workers.
Farmers are “eager for workers,” Brieger said. “They are required to provide wages and housing, but small farmers here struggle with housing. They’re not mega-farmers with mansions. They compete with foreign farmers supplying vegetables for less.”
Consequently, farmworkers often share rentals in Middletown, Goshen and Pine Island, she said. Small farms are disappearing because of the costs.
Many service jobs are also unfilled, whether construction work or car wash.
“Restaurants are begging for workers,” Brieger said. “There are lots of opportunities.”
She conceded that when farmworkers arrive, “almost none know English. But if they work among English speakers, they learn through immersion.”
Immersion is less likely in farm work, but other jobs provide it.
“Some farmworkers leave for the winter, but others try to stay. It’s a struggle for them to get transportation to work. Employers would have to help. But I’ve never seen an employment picture better than now.”
Community focused news can only succeed with community support. Please consider the various subscription levels.