https://nystateofpolitics.com/state-of-politics/new-york/ny-state-of-politics/2021/08/20/lawmakers–hochul-back-afghan-refugee-resettlement-in-new-york
Lawmakers, Hochul back Afghan refugee resettlement in New York
By Nick Reisman City of Albany
PUBLISHED 5:19 AM ET Aug. 20, 2021
Officials in New York — from the state Legislature to the executive branch — are backing the resettlement of Afghan refugees in the state as the country's government this week fell to the Taliban.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is elevated to the governor's office on Tuesday following the resignation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, posted on Twitter Thursday that New York would welcome refugees leaving the country.
"When I served in Congress, I met with many Afghans when I traveled to their country," she wrote. "They were there for us, now it's time for us to help them."
The state, she added, will be committed to welcome refugees.
"The arms of the Statue of Liberty are open wide to you," Hochul wrote.
State lawmakers, meanwhile, are also backing resettlement support for Afghans who are leaving the country. Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, both Democrats, made public a letter Thursday to the Biden administration stating New York is willing to offer residence to asylum seekers and refugees.
“New York has always been a beacon of refuge for those escaping conflict,” Gounardes said. “Many of these asylum-seekers have helped our military members in their country, and we stand ready to help them in ours. It’s time again that we live up to our values and provide a safe haven for Afghanis fleeing the Taliban.”
The letter comes after days of chaos at the airport in Kabul as the U.S. works to evacuate Americans as well as Afghans who worked for the federal government to provide services like translation. Media companies, too, have urged support for Afghans who worked for them over the years.
“New York State has always served as a refuge of hope for immigrants across the globe,” Cruz said. “As the crisis in Afghanistan intensifies, we must act expeditiously to welcome their asylum seekers and refugees to our state, and provide them with the home that they deserve. Today, my colleague Senator Andrew Gounardes and I, with the help of our colleagues, called on the Biden administration to allow these individuals and families to call New York home, where we intend to welcome them with open arms.”
Support for aiding refugees has bipartisan backing in Albany. Republican Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt this week also urged the federal government to aid those fleeing the country and said he would work with state government officials to support the resettlement of those who worked with American forces.
"They helped us at great risk to themselves because they believed that we were going to, they were making a better country for them and for them to wake up and just see the very people that were running the country before in charge of the country again — a brutal regime, a brutal regime that when they find these folks, they will kill them — so my heart breaks for them as well," Ortt told Spectrum News 1 this week.