Candidate blasts Saratoga County migrant order
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A candidate for the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors is charging its chair with potentially harming thousands of Saratoga Race Course backstretch workers when he issued an executive order to prohibit sheltering or transporting migrants and asylum-seekers.
Democrat Gordon Boyd wrote in a letter to Republican Chair Todd Kusnierz that his order, signed May 19 without a vote from county supervisors, “falls short of the needs of Saratoga Springs and should be discontinued or amended.” It also reminded Kusnierz that the city is home to 2,000 backstretch workers, many of whom are legal immigrants, who could be victimized by Kusnierz’s unilateral order that casts migrants and asylumseekers as endangering life and property.
Boyd said it leaves track workers at the mercy of business owners who may be afraid to serve them. Boyd also said none of this was discussed with city officials, where it was estimated that in 2020 the track generated $240 million in tourism dollars.
“The backstretch workers are around our community,” Boyd said Tuesday. “The nature of the order is saying ‘don’t do business with certain people.’ That could represent a safety risk to that community.”
He also said the county shouldn’t be telling businesses what to do.
“Restricting businesses for vague reasons is no way to solve anything,” Boyd wrote to Kusnierz. “Requiring every transportation service, hotel, or motel to get the county’s permission to do business with someone is counterproductive and may be contrary to the U.S. Constitution (Article 1 Section 10). It’s also a waste of taxpayer dollars.”
Kusnierz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
His declaration, however, stated that “this type of rapid population increase would overburden our social services, public health, emergency services and other departments that are already dealing with a higher volume of cases and workload than they have in years past.”
The order also noted that anyone who does business with migrants could be charged with a misdemeanor and they must assume all costs to the county including the cost of “law enforcement interactions.”
County spokeswoman Christine Rush said she received Boyd’s letter and distributed it to supervisors’ mailboxes. She made no comment on the letter’s contents.
Boyd’s letter suggested to Kusnierz that the county should “identify and engage resources” that could help with migrants and asylumseekers. That would include discussing strategies with city officials, faith leaders and those who work in the hospitality industry.terry Diggory, a co-coordinator of the Saratoga Immigration Coalition, said since the order, his organization has received calls that are “unwelcoming” of migrants. And while he doesn’t think Kusnierz meant to
upset those working at the track, Diggory said it does.“the county’s emergency declaration is so poorly worded that there is no way to tell who might be affected — which makes the order a clear violation of civil rights, in my opinion,” Diggory wrote in an email. Beyond the legal issue, I think it is a bad idea to make it seem like the presence of “migrants” is an “emergency.” That can only encourage hostility, while what we need to encourage is a spirit of welcome. It should be the role of the county supervisors to build community and they are not doing their job.”
Saratoga County is just one of several counties including Albany, Fulton, Greene, Rensselaer and Warren that have issued a state of emergency in order to access state aid for expenses that might be incurred to provide services for migrants and asylum-seekers. The state budget included $1 billion to support New York City’s efforts to house and provide services for newly arrived migrants, some of whom have been sent to the city from officials in other states. State officials said the money also covers relocation costs, which the city would
shoulder, not the municipality where the person is housed.
Boyd said the county should request aid rather than issuing an order that he says “overlooked the unique circumstance in Saratoga Springs,” which he said was “welcoming and diverse.”
“The backstretch workers are among the most essential people in the community,” Boyd said. “Without them, horses don’t even get to the track . ... This order overlooks that completely.”
The New York Racing Association, which runs the track, said its commitment to protecting the interests of the backstretch community is paramount. In a statement, it said without the hard work of the largely immigrant population, the success and continued growth of the annual summer meet at Saratoga
would not be possible.
NYRA said it reviewed the county’s emergency order and has assurances from the county the order will not unfairly target the backstretch community. It said it will monitor developments to ensure the order “is not used to malign or intimidate those who are lawfully pursuing the opportunities that horse racing provides.”