New York State Assemblyman Colin Schmitt is blasting federal officials amid reports that three migrant flights secretly landed overnight at Orange County Airport in Montgomery yesterday. The flights brought in mostly teenage girls from Honduras and Guatemala, who were reportedly unfed during their journeys within America and lacked basic personal care supplies.
New York State Troopers and the Village of Montgomery Police Department stopped a bus leaving Orange County Airport under the cover of darkness. After police stopped the bus, they reportedly contacted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. According to Schmitt, police learned that the teenagers were detained at the U.S. / Mexico border and Homeland Security commissioned the flights.
This was reportedly the third flight to Orange County airport in one week.
“The secret migrant flights, often in the dead of night, are both fundamentally wrong and causing a humanitarian crisis,” Schmitt declared. Just a few weeks ago, Schmitt joined Congressman Tony Gonzales to tour the U.S. / Mexico border in El Paso, Texas to focus on the national security and humanitarian crisis impacting the Hudson Valley. He said this was fueling the ongoing fentanyl crisis as migrants were secretly being flown into Stewart Airport. Schmitt said his trip was privately funded with no tax dollars used.
“In an effort to conceal these migrant flights from the public and local officials, the Biden Administration has rerouted them to Orange County Airport in Montgomery, NY, in the heart of our community,” Schmitt continued. “This type of secrecy by the federal government, as well as the policy itself, is entirely unacceptable.”
Schmitt also complained of the lack of humanitarian care given to the migrants. “These flights are a public safety risk and cause an extremely untenable situation for our local law enforcement,” he declared. “No local governments or law enforcement agencies had been notified of these flights. No medical alerts or screenings were provided for possible health impacts. It also appears the unaccompanied minors involved in this relocation were not adequately fed on their journey and may have been lacking basic personal care supplies.”
Schmitt accused Congressional opponent Pat Ryan of staying mum on the word and overseeing the transformation of Orange County Airport into a federal migrant relocation hub. He also blamed Ryan for giving cover to human traffickers and fueling the fentanyl crisis, which he said is the leading cause of death for 18 to 45 year-olds in America.
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has also stayed silent on the issue.
