Hudson Valley hotels sue counties, towns across NY for blocking migrants sent from NYC

Chris McKenna, New York State Team
·4 min read
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The owners of five Hudson Valley hotels have widened a multi-county court battle over asylum seekers by suing New York counties and towns that are trying to block New York City's efforts to board migrants upstate.

The case was filed this week in federal court in White Plains by the owners of hotels in Orange, Rockland and Dutchess counties that have contracts with the city to house asylum seekers. It was the latest of nine lawsuits filed in a two-week span since controversy over the plans first erupted on May 5.

The Armoni Inn and Suites in Orangeburg, one of two hotels in Rockland and Orange Counties where New York City is pushing to place 300 migrant men to help manage the influx of migrants from the Southern border, May 8, 2023.
The Armoni Inn and Suites in Orangeburg, one of two hotels in Rockland and Orange Counties where New York City is pushing to place 300 migrant men to help manage the influx of migrants from the Southern border, May 8, 2023.

The new suit returns fire at the same counties and towns that have sued the hotels and New York City to stop the transfer of refugees in the city's care. But it also broadens the legal fight, challenging the validity of executive orders that nearly two dozen other upstate counties have issued to try to head off temporary housing of migrants.

Orange case: Orange County judge halts new asylum seekers but lets 186 remain in two Newburgh hotels

Rockland order: Plan to house asylum seekers at Rockland hotel may be blocked by county executive's order

Dutchess suit: Dutchess County officials sue to block New York City from sending asylum seekers

Lawyers for the hotels accuse local officials of "catering to xenophobic and political interests" and violating the Constitution in several ways by prohibiting the boarding of asylum seekers. Among other claims, they argue that those bans unlawfully interfere with contracts between the city and the hotels, and that they deprive the hotels of due process rights.

Members of grassroots organization For the Many and local elected officials greeted two buses of asylum seekers at Newburgh’s Crossroads Hotel on May 11, 2023. They were joined by other organizers, including those from the Workers Justice Center of New York and the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Members of grassroots organization For the Many and local elected officials greeted two buses of asylum seekers at Newburgh’s Crossroads Hotel on May 11, 2023. They were joined by other organizers, including those from the Workers Justice Center of New York and the New York Civil Liberties Union.

They wrote that the hotels "are being aggressively targeted by Defendants with a simple message: if you provide hotel rooms to Asylum Refugees, Defendants will prevent performance of your agreements and destroy your businesses, all in flagrant violation of your Constitutional rights."

Rockland County Executive Ed Day speaks at Orangetown Town Hall about the efforts to block migrants from New York City from being bused to Rockland May 10, 2023.
Rockland County Executive Ed Day speaks at Orangetown Town Hall about the efforts to block migrants from New York City from being bused to Rockland May 10, 2023.

Temporary orders by judges in Rockland, Orange and Dutchess have effectively frozen the number of asylum seekers housed in those counties, allowing those already lodged in hotels to remain but preventing New York City from sending more until further rulings are made.

The upshot, for now, is up to 186 asylum seekers are housed at The Crossroads Hotel and Ramada by Wyndham in the town of Newburgh, which is in Orange, and 86 are at the Red Roof Inn in the town of Poughkeepsie, which is in Dutchess. Rockland has no asylum seekers because a judge halted plans to move some to the Armoni Inn and Suites in Orangeburg before any buses arrived.

The owners of those five hotels filed the new federal lawsuit.

Not included in the case is a Ramada in Yonkers where New York City has placed migrant mothers with small children, occupying 49 of the 100 rooms at last count. There's no conflict with that hotel because neither Yonkers nor Westchester County has issued orders or sued to stop it from taking in the asylum seekers.

Families of asylum seekers are led into the Ramada hotel in Yonkers May 15, 2023. The families were being housed in New York City.
Families of asylum seekers are led into the Ramada hotel in Yonkers May 15, 2023. The families were being housed in New York City.

The blizzard of litigation now includes seven lawsuits filed in state courts in Rockland, Orange and Dutchess and two cases in U.S. District Court in White Plains. In addition to the hotels' lawsuit, the other federal case was brought by the New York Civil Liberties Union in support of the temporary housing for asylum seekers.

On Monday, lawyers for the hotels transferred three state cases against them - by Orange County, Newburgh and Poughkeepsie - into federal court, arguing they belong there because they involve federal issues. That may end the state judges' involvement in those cases, although Orange County's attorney said on Wednesday that he will seek to restore that county's case to Orange.

What comes next?

The temporary orders stopping further placements of asylum seekers remain in effect until judges decide whether to extend them by issuing a longer-term order known as a preliminary injunction. Such an order would prevent hotels from taking in asylum seekers while the cases play out in court, until judges issue final rulings on the legal disputes.

Decisions on preliminary injunctions could come soon in Rockland. Attorneys are due to argue about them in court on Tuesday and Wednesday.

New York City is struggling to house tens of thousands of asylum seekers thrust into its care after crossing the southern border and being bused to the city by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others. City officials have considered using school gyms in addition to upstate hotels. Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she is considering the use of SUNY or CUNY dorms during the summer, when campuses are empty.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on New York State Team: NYC asylum seekers: Hudson Valley hotels sue towns blocking refugees