Yvette Aguiar

There has been no official request from New York City to house asylum-seekers in Suffolk and officials are not aware of any asylum-seekers being sent by NYC to Suffolk, a county spokesperson said.

Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar extended and expanded the town’s state of emergency barring hotel and motels in the Town of Riverhead from housing asylum-seekers this week, continuing a controversial measure immigration advocates say is an abuse of power.

Riverhead's state of emergency, issued last Tuesday night, is based on rumors, half-truths and lies. That's no way to govern. The order should be rescinded.

Residents criticized Supervisor Yvette Aguiar’s declaration of a state of emergency in an attempt to block the lodging of asylum-seekers in Riverhead Town as being without factual basis, and having the potential to fuel fear and hate of immigrants.

Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar claims the Suffolk County Supervisors Association supports her emergency order. The chairperson of the organization says that's not true. Both he and at least one other supervisor say she did not have the legal authority to issue the order, which seeks to prevent asylum-seekers from being placed in lodging within Riverhead Town.

Hotel and motel operators in Riverhead Town said today they are not taking in homeless migrants from New York City and have not been solicited by anyone to do that, contrary to Supervisor Yvette Aguiar’s statements, including those in her executive order issued last night declaring a state of emergency due to the “immediate danger of public emergency of hundreds, or potentially, thousands of persons being transported to the Town of Riverhead.”

Reacting to reports of an impending “high influx” of undocumented migrants being sent to Riverhead from New York City, Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar declared a state of emergency Tuesday night.

Riverhead Supervisor announced Friday night she will not seek a third term of office.

The Planning Board has recommended a broad moratorium on new industrial development in Calverton outside the enterprise park. Supervisor Yvette Aguiar made an unusual appearance, addressing the board before the vote to say she was working on the issue before the planning board decided to recommend the moratorium on Oct. 20..

Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar is proposing a nearly $3 million spending increase, or 4.9%, in the three town-wide funds in 2023, requiring the town to pierce the 2% tax levy cap imposed by state law.