New Jersey's role in the migrant crisis is at the center of a debate after an Old State proposal recently resurfaced for a potential sight to house and process undocumented migrants who come here hunon County Commissioner board director Jeff Cole last week told County leaders the Murphy Administration is considering using the old Hagadorn State psychiatric hospital as a processing facility that caused an uproar among Republicans and many local leaders in the area who are resources are already stretched thin for the towns around the hospital with some promoting stances that progressives consider anti-immigration and isolationist the Murphy Administration says there's no such plan or proposal in place but a senior political correspondent David Cruz reports that isn't stopping the political Fallout ask most anyone running for anything nowadays from either party and they'll tell you the federal government and Congress are most to blame for the influx of migrants at the border and those getting put on buses that have recently been stopping in New Jersey but Republicans here are taking the opportunity to depending on who you ask take political advantage of the situation or raise the alarm about it impacting the state this is a failed border uh policy of this Biden Administration and also our governor governor Murphy has declared us to be a sanctuary state so our doors are open for people to come here assembly Republican leader John Deo echoing the Republican line today reacting he says to concerns from Hunterdon County officials to the idea of using the former Hagadorn State psychiatric hospital as a potential processing facility for undocumented migrants did someone from the state say that this was a pending action how did this all come about it was it was on a uh a call with County officials and their interpretation was this is something that could happen now gotcha before it could happen we want answers the state says no such action is pending and that it was over a year ago that the decommissioned Hospital in rural Hunton was previously identified as a potential State site should the need arise to shelter a mass group of individuals not limited to migrants but also including weather related events or large scale emergencies immigrants rights Advocates say the state has a responsibility to provide basic services for migrants who show up here acknowledging the need for a federal solution but also cautioning against demonizing those most vulnerable but I think it's really important to note that this is an election year a presidential election year and just like years before where at that time the the talking point in the specter was migrant Caravans right and before that it was chain migration and before that it was anchor babies right there's always this scary term that people come up with during election Cycles to basically pit communities against each other residents near the facility and near is a relative term since it's located in the wooded area away from homes or mass transit or emergency services or even a supermarket they seemed not as alarmed as some of their Republican Representatives ignoring it's not going to make it go away and we need to work together to fix our immigration policy and maybe if we all had a little skin in the game we would all work a lot faster to make it better it's been standing empty and it's not being utilized and it's an amazing facility and that it would be better to be used than just be standing empty so if they could utilize it to to accommodate immigrants I I'm I'm all for that it's not as if New Jersey didn't have its share of unauthorized residents here already and the debate over their impact has already been intense and with the prospect of more busloads of migrants heading to States like ours even if they're just passing through that debate will only intensify in an election year whether the impact is real or imagined I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight news [Music].