NYCLU Demands 37 Counties, Towns Rescind Migrant Emergency Orders

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — The New York Civil Liberties Union sent cease-and-desist letters Wednesday to county and town leaders who had issued emergency declarations and executive orders against the possibility that New York City might temporarily house some of the thousands of newly-arrived migrants in their jurisdictions.

"Nearly 40 counties and towns across New York State have attempted to block recently arrived immigrants from resettling in their communities," NYCLU officials said Thursday in a media release about the letters. "These incendiary orders – which are premised on non-existent emergencies – could generate hostility, bias, and even violence against immigrants while perpetuating false narratives of 'thousands' of immigrants entering counties and placing undue burdens on services."

The civil liberties advocacy group's letter was a follow-up to its federal court case against Orange and Rockland counties. Their emergency orders were declared unconstitutional June 5.

Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne responded quickly.

"It appears, in your zeal to address the alleged improprieties of what appears to be an inordinate number of executive orders by dozens of municipalities throughout the state, you applied a mistaken analysis to Putnam County's executive orders and proposed legislation," he said in a letter Thursday to Amy Belsher, the NYCLU's director of immigration rights litigation.

Putnam's consistent position has been that if New York City or any municipality wants to temporarily offer homeless housing by using temporary residence facilities in the county, an inter-governmental agreement about services must be in place.

"It seems to me they didn’t read our executive order," Byrne told Patch on Friday.

He also objected to the NYCLU's characterization of the executive orders as "invoking a false emergency as pretext to exclude people on the basis of their national origin and immigration status" — pointing out that both New York City and New York State declared a state of emergency to exist due to the recent influx of migrants.

He said moving migrants around was like "trafficking" whether it was NYC, Texas or Florida.

Meanwhile, Putnam is moving to codify its position with a bill now before the County Legislature.

SEE: Putnam Could Become 'Rule of Law' County Under New Legislation.

Byrne said he did not believe in government by executive order for long-term use, invoking former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's orders in 2020 restricting gatherings that prevented people from holding funerals.

The NYCLU told Patch they were reviewing Putnam County's proposed legislation.

"They might have objections but I think they will probably be different," Byrne said.

He told the NYCLU Thursday that he hoped they would do such a review "so in the future we can avoid unpleasant correspondence that could be construed as defamatory."

The NYCLU in its letter to all the municipalities had characterized the emergency declarations as "odious," "shameful," "demeaning" and "dehumanizing."

"They’re obviously assuming that Putnam County and Putnam’s county executive acted the same way as every other," he said. "I did not suggest I wanted to grab Mayor Adams by the throat."

The NYCLU sent the letter to Dutchess and Putnam counties as well as: Allegany County, Broome County, Cattaraugus County, Cayuga County, Chautauqua County, Chemung County, Columbia County, Cortland County, Delaware County, Franklin County, Fulton County, Genesee County, Greene County, Herkimer County, Madison County, Monroe County, Nassau County, Niagara County, Oneida County, Onondaga County, Orleans County, Oswego County, Otsego County, Rensselaer County, Riverhead Town, Saratoga County, Schoharie County, Schuyler County, St. Lawrence County, Suffolk County, Sullivan County, Tioga County, Warren County, Wyoming County, and Yates County.