WHITE PLAINS – Westchester County Executive George Latimer has proposed to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas the creation of a federal immigration court in White Plains to handle asylum seekers in the Hudson Valley.
In recent weeks, migrants have been bused from New York City to locations in the Hudson Valley and Latimer said that with a federal court facility in White Plains already, judges could ease the backlog of immigrants awaiting their applications on asylum.
“This would allow immigration judges to be on duty and to handle those cases of individuals that may be placed in Westchester or anywhere else in the Hudson Valley and ensure speedy adjudication, and that’s important,” he said. “If migrant asylum seekers are to have a successful outcome and be dealt with in an appropriate fashion, we cannot have them awaiting cases over a year or two years.”
In a letter to the Homeland Security secretary, Latimer suggested staffing the court with retired judges and individuals with legal experience.
The county executive also called for a faster timetable to provide work permits to asylum seekers. “To suspend families for long periods with no way to support themselves benefits no one,” Latimer said.
