Upstate New York county officials have been hitting back at New York City Mayor Eric Adams and hotels providing refuge to new migrant arrivals by issuing executive orders designed to discourage the bussing of migrants from the city to their areas.

Meanwhile, New York City is responding with its own lawsuit against more than 30 New York counties for what city officials describe as “unlawful” executive orders that they believe are an attempt to keep migrants out amid what they call a humanitarian crisis.

Joshua Goldfein is an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, the nation’s oldest non-profit legal services organization. He believes the legality of certain county responses may be a step too far.

“There is no legal basis to restrict someone’s freedom of travel within the United States. That’s a federal constitutional right that applies to everyone, regardless of their immigration status,” Goldfein said.

There are generally two primary methods county leaders have been using to try and discourage migrant movement — executive orders and injunctions — also called temporary restraining orders.

An executive order is when a government leader makes an emergency declaration, allowing it access to certain resources and powers, including potentially suspending local laws.

A temporary restraining order is issued by a court and essentially maintains the status quo or cancels out something — meaning no further bussing migrants by New York City for example — until both parties can meet in court for further arguments.

According to court documents, in Rockland and Orange counties, attorneys argued their executive orders aren’t meant to be discriminatory based on race, country of origin or one’s immigration status. Attorneys for the counties say it’s about cost and resources being diverted to assist these migrants.

“Rockland County is now becoming a dumping ground for the city. The city is externalizing its costs to Rockland County,” said Thomas Humbach, attorney for Rockland County.

Orange County argues it’s illegal to house these new arrivals at hotels like the Crossroads in the town of Newburgh because it violates local zoning codes, which the county says forbids hotels from being used as long-term shelters for migrants.

However a federal judge ruled in early June that the executive order violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fourteenth Amendment, including its equal protection clause.

“The federal government has admitted these folks to the United States, and permitted them to pursue their claims, and they have court dates coming up, and as long as they stay on schedule with their case, they’re allowed to be here,” Goldfein said.

Politics are also a factor in executive actions with a looming presidential campaign, primaries, and other local, state, and federal offices up for grabs. Historically, executive orders and other legal actions have been a tool for leaders in both parties at the state and federal level to appeal to their respective bases of voters.

“New York City is a sanctuary city. They declare themselves as such. They welcome these people, they’re attracting these people to come there,” Humbach said. “They’ve created now their own problem of an oversaturation of people who are essentially homeless.”

Legal challenges wage on in other parts of the state. In Onondaga County, in Central New York, the county issued an executive order on May 18 in anticipation of any migrant buses. As of mid-June, no one has arrived.

In Western New York, Niagara County says it pre-emptively declared a state of emergency, ordering hotels to not do business with New York City to house migrants. Goldfein believes the legal system is working out the disagreements, but some pushback from certain counties may be a waste of critical taxpayer resources – as those fights might be more politically motivated.

“If they have to take on a frivolous case, that involves a major expenditure of resources by the government to deal with nonsense when those people could be working productively on their actual jobs,” Goldfein said. “But this is really a national problem, it needs to be addressed by the federal government.”

Clarification: This article was updated to reflect the target of the emergency orders issued by some upstate counties.