Two soon-to-be-married couples told outlets this week that their wedding plans were upended after the hotel rooms they booked for their wedding guests were canceled to accommodate illegal immigrants.
According to the New York Post, a bride named Deanna Mifsud, said that she and her fiance, Gary Moretti, planned to get married on June 24 at the Lippincott Manor in Wallkill, New York with 160 guests. The couple booked 30 rooms at The Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh, 20 minutes away from the venue. The couple reportedly had guests flying in from California, Florida, Arizona, and Minnesota for the wedding. The couple had also paid for transportation to and from the wedding.
“We signed a contract. We had a legal contract to have those rooms,” Moretti told the Post.
Hotel set to take NYC migrants abruptly cancels 30 rooms soon-to-be newlyweds booked for their guests https://t.co/8AZEoqYWpP pic.twitter.com/cGOIj99l6H
— New York Post (@nypost) May 15, 2023
Reportedly, the couple learned that the hotel was set to accept illegal immigrants from New York City. Concerned, the couple called the hotel, where they learned that their reservation was “tossed aside.” The hotel advised the couple to call its management company with further questions.
“We were on hold for 45-plus minutes and were ultimately told, ‘We can’t do anything for you, bye bye,’ and we were hung up on,” Mifsud said. She added that only one of their wedding guests who was scheduled to stay at the hotel was given notice of the cancellation.
“Some people have canceled [coming to the wedding] already,” she added. “It puts a damper on it because we’d love for those people to come.”
According to the Post’s report, the Crossroads is believed to be one of the hotels that kicked out homeless veterans to house incoming illegal immigrants.
“It’s complete chaos. We do not feel like they are housing the migrants out of the kindness of their heart. It’s just for the money. That’s how we feel,” Mifsud said.
And, another couple that booked 37 rooms “months in advance” at the hotel for guests for their May wedding were also canceled on.
“What we feel right now is, we feel very cast aside,” Sean Plunkett, the groom, told CBS.
Plunkett and his fiance, Nicole Hoeffrle, have been spending the week leading up to their wedding searching for accommodations for their 60 guests who were supposed to stay at the Crossroads.
"I don't think that it's really beneficial to myself or Nicole to take our anger out on New York City, or on Orange county, or on the hotel. At this point we really just want our wedding to be as wonderful a day as we've hoped," Plunkett told the outlet.
CBS added that other couples and large groups were forced to look for a new hotel due to the asylum seekers at the Crossroads, including a Christian ministry that hosts Sunday services at the building.
"This is a whole, big hot-button issue, but at this point we really just want what's best for us and our friends and family," Plunkett said.