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

Chris McKenna, New York State Team
Updated ·5 min read
228

Some 186 asylum seekers can remain at two town of Newburgh hotels, but no others may be brought to Orange County from New York City under a temporary court order issued on Tuesday.

The county and town of Newburgh had filed three lawsuits against the city and The Crossroads Hotel on Friday after the city delivered asylum seekers one day earlier, the opening of a new push to relocate part of its swelling migrant population. Each case asked the court to halt the transfer of asylum seekers while the litigation plays out.

State Supreme Court Justice Sandra Sciortino, who's handling both county suits and the town case, heard arguments from attorneys on Tuesday morning and agreed to suspend the placement of asylum seekers as of 11 a.m. Any migrants who were placed in Orange County hotels before then could stay, but if they leave the city cannot fill their spots.

Title 42: Separating fear, rhetoric from reality: What Title 42's end really means for New Yorkers

Orange lawsuits: Newburgh, Orange County sue to block asylum seekers. Who else did so in Hudson Valley?

By that time, the total had grown with the arrival of 76 asylum seekers at the Ramada at Wyndham on Route 300 in the town of Newburgh. The Crossroads Hotel, just a few miles away in the same town, had been housing 110 as of a day earlier.

How did the hotel respond?

The Crossroads had fought the order, saying in a sworn statement on Monday that it would force the city to remove the men it had already placed at the the hotel, disrupting the stability they had found.

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. 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. They were joined by other organizers, including those from the Workers Justice Center of New York and the New York Civil Liberties Union.

The order would "immediately deprive the Asylum Refugees of their safe living conditions at the Hotel and thrust the Asylum Refugees into the abyss — as the City of New York has made clear it does not have the capacity or capability to house the Asylum Refugees in the City’s overtaxed system," read the statement from Ashok Batt, the operator of the hotel.

The men staying at The Crossroads were the first group the city had actually moved upstate during 10 days of skirmishes with local officials, lawsuits and a media storm about the planned transfers of asylum seekers. That uproar started in Rockland County on May 5 and has since reached into Orange and Westchester counties as well.

Rockland lawsuits: Immigrants' relocation from NYC to Rockland blocked; county mounts more legal challenges

Where else are asylum seekers being taken?

After The Crossroads, the next two hotels outside the city where asylum seekers were placed on Monday night were Ramada at Wyndham hotels in Newburgh in Yonkers.

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said at a news conference on Tuesday that 14 families — mostly mothers with young children, 38 people altogether — had arrived so far at the 100-room Ramada on Tuckahoe Road. Yonkers officials were told last week that as many as 100 asylum-seeking families would be brought to that site.

Newburgh Supervisor Gil Piaquadio told The Journal News/lohud on Tuesday that 29 migrants had been bused overnight to the Ramada in his town. New York City officials previously notified him they expected to send roughly 180 people in all to that hotel.

By the time attorneys assembled in court, the total at the Newburgh Ramada had grown to 76 with the arrival of more that morning, Orange County Attorney Richard Golden said after the hearing.

City officials told Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus that they had more seven buses en route to Orange when Sciortino issued her order blocking more placements, Golden said. Which hotels they were headed to is unknown, but the city is unable to drop off those asylum seekers in Orange under the court order.

That temporary restraining order remains in effect at least until June 21. That is when attorneys are set to return to court to debate the next level of relief the county has sought: a preliminary injunction, which would block the placement of asylum seekers in Orange County until Sciortino renders a final ruling in the cases.

The Ramada by Wyndham on Route 300 in Newburgh. Newburgh Town Supervisor Gil Piaquadio told The Journal News/lohud that city officials have planned to bus roughly 180 migrants to this hotel. None had arrived as of Monday.
The Ramada by Wyndham on Route 300 in Newburgh. Newburgh Town Supervisor Gil Piaquadio told The Journal News/lohud that city officials have planned to bus roughly 180 migrants to this hotel. None had arrived as of Monday.

Two Rockland judges issued temporary orders last week that kept the city from moving asylum seekers into the Armoni Inn and Suites in the town of Orangetown. Those orders remain in effect until attorneys return to court at the end of the month for lawsuits Rockland County and Orangetown filed to stop the city's housing plan.

What is New York City's overall plan for the asylum seekers?

City officials have turned to the suburbs to help them absorb the tens of thousands of asylum seekers that have been sent to the city after crossing the southern border. They say the city will fully pay for the refugees' housing, food and other needs, posing no hardships for the municipalities that host them.

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.
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.

But local and county officials protest that New York City Mayor Eric Adams sprang the plans on them with no consultation, no details and no long-term vision for where the asylum seekers ultimately will live. They argue suburban neighborhoods are no place for migrants with no jobs and limited transportation and services nearby.

Both sides in the debate have traded harsh words. In Monday's court affidavit, the Crossroads Hotel operator accused local officials of making "outrageous public statements" to stoke fear, and noted that the city had hired security officers for the hotel both to protect the asylum seekers and "assuage the unfounded, xenophobic fears of the surrounding communities" about them.

"Rather than embrace compassion and basic human decency, the Town has opted for racism, fear, and hatred," the statement read.

In a second affidavit late Monday afternoon, Batt said the number of asylum seekers housed at the Crossroads had risen to 110 with the arrival on Sunday of 24 more. Since the men have stayed only for several days they are not in violation of the town's prohibition on non-transient guests, he argued.

The Journal News/lohud reporter Nancy Cutler contributed to this report.

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

This article originally appeared on New York State Team: Migrant relocation: Newburgh asylum seekers allowed to stay in hotels