The New York Civil Liberties Union and attorneys representing Rockland and Orange counties made their cases in federal court after the advocacy group filed a suit in May.

The suit alleges the Rockland and Orange county executives violated the rights of migrants when they issued executive orders designed to prevent hotels and motels in their areas from accepting migrants as guests.

The NYCLU alleges the two counties, among other things, violated the 14th Amendment. The advocacy group is seeking to overturn the counties' executive orders.

“Usually, you have to look really hard to find some intent to discriminate," said NYCLU Senior Staff Attorney Amy Belsher. "But here it's right there on the face of it. No migrants and asylum seekers, right? And so he [the judge] was referring, I think, to the Jim Crow era as a way of saying like, 'That's really the last time that we've seen something this blatant.'”

Attorneys for the two counties argued the orders weren’t discriminatory, saying the counties were reacting to New York City’s practices.

“If our government program is unconstitutional for some reason because it mentions the word asylum-seekers in response to the cities program, then is the city's program also unconstitutional?" said attorney for Rockland County Thomas Humbach.

The New York State Supreme Court granted both counties temporary restraining orders against New York City busing migrants into upstate counties in May.

In federal court, Judge Nelson Román mentioned he might have to abstain from making a ruling since the state Supreme Court approved the counties temporary restraining orders against the city.

“It fundamentally impacts the decisions that a state Supreme Court justices have already considered some of these very issues," said attorney for Orange County Vincent Crowe.

NYCLU's attorneys disagreed.

“State law issues are not at all present in our case," Belsher said. "So there's really no basis under any abstention doctrine."

Román stated that both sides have until June 5 to file briefs on abstention.