NYC files lawsuit against Onondaga County for refusing asylum seekers
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New York City filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Onondaga County and 30 other New York state counties for refusing to accept asylum seekers in recent weeks.
The lawsuit accuses the counties of using multiple methods, such as prohibiting local hotels from providing temporary shelter and imposing penalties against properties violating county executive orders, to keep migrants from being moved upstate. The lawsuit names Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon as well as other county executives as defendants.
The lawsuit claims that counties declared states of emergencies on the “specious” grounds that asylum seekers would endanger the public. The 31 counties also violated the state’s Social Services Law and the United States Constitution’s Equal Protections Clause, according to the lawsuit.
McMahon issued an executive order on May 18 preventing properties like motels from temporarily housing incoming migrants arriving from New York City. He has not publicly responded to the lawsuit as of 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, but previously said in a May 11 tweet that the county is not prepared to accept migrants from other countries and called on the federal government to secure the border.
Syracuse Judge Robert Antonacci approved two temporary orders on May 24 which blocked as many as 200 migrants from being temporarily housed at the Candlewood Suites Syracuse-Airport Hotel, approximately six miles away from the Syracuse University campus. New York City previously confirmed that it would comply with the ruling.
More than 72,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since the end of Title 42 on May 11. The pandemic-era immigration policy used by then-President Donald Trump and later by President Joe Biden denies people from seeking asylum in the U.S. to “stop the introduction of communicable diseases,” according to Title 42.
The lawsuit claims that New York City’s emergency shelter system has taken as many as 600 to 900 people per day, up from approximately 200 to 300 people from before Title 42 ended.
