NYC fails to undue injunction prohibiting more migrant homeless in Orange County

New York City has failed in its attempt to work around Orange County’s injunction prohibiting the city from sending any additional migrant homeless individuals to the county.

City officials had filed a lawsuit asking that a N.Y.C. Court have transferred to it all lawsuits and Executive Orders state-wide that opposed the City’s busing of its migrant homeless to numerous counties, including Orange County. The county executives in Putnam and Rockland also participated in the legal action.

State Supreme Court Justice Lyle E. Frank, sitting in New York County Court, has now severed the city’s lawsuit against Orange County, and others, and sent the lawsuits back to their respective counties, noting that it was improper for the city to file its action in other than the counties in which the initial lawsuits and Executive Orders originated.

“New York City’s leadership has attempted to drag Orange County into a New York City Court and I am pleased that effort has been rejected,” Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus said. “New York City is a self-described sanctuary city and its leadership and our federal representatives need to keep the pressure on President Biden to secure the border and develop an orderly and legal immigration process.”

County Attorney Rick Golden noted that “the return to an Orange County court of NYC’s lawsuit is a big victory, ensuring that these issues involving the City’s transfer of its homeless migrants in Orange County will be decided by an Orange County court. The preliminary injunction Orange County secured against the City remains in place.”

Golden also said that because the City’s lawsuit raises no issues not already present in Orange County’s lawsuit against the City, the County will ask the Orange County Supreme Court to dismiss the City’s lawsuit.