Hochul and James in spat over legal case involving migrants in NYC

New York”™s Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James had a rare display of division when James declined to represent Hochul in legal proceedings related to the care of the illegal immigrants who flooded into New York City.

The legal dispute involves a right-to-shelter mandate that gained new attention last week when hundreds of migrants were left to sleep on the sidewalk outside the city”™s main intake center at the former Roosevelt Hotel. The judge in the case ordered the city to provide the state with “a proposal identifying the resources and facilities owned, operated and/or controlled by the state” that the city needs for providing shelter.

According to a New York Times report, state officials notified the judge in a State Supreme Court that the private law firm Selendy Gay Elsberg would represent Hochul in the case, with New York City seeking to have the state government take more responsibility in helping with the unprecedent influx of migrants. Traditionally, the attorney general represents the governor in court proceedings.

James did not publicly comment on her decision, but the Times cited an unnamed “person familiar with her thinking” in claiming James “had fundamental policy disagreements with the governor over the state”™s role in managing the crisis.”

For her part, Hochul told an Albany news conference, “We believe ”” and I”™m convinced ”” that the right to shelter is the result of a consent decree undertaken by the City of New York. The state is not a party to that, so right to shelter does not expand to the whole of the state.”

Photo by Peter Katz.