Asylum seekers crossing the southern U.S. border go through health screenings and receive vaccinations, said a Cornell University law professor, after a Cortland County health official said Monday she wasn’t sure what health screenings asylum seekers get.
“I know that counties are worried about health issues, but at the border folks are getting screened for major medical issues,” said Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer, Cornell law professor with expertise in human rights and immigration.
Following Public Health Director Nicole Anjeski’s report at a Monday meeting of the county’s readiness for asylum seekers, Legislator Paul Heider (R-Cuyler, Solon, Truxton) asked: “A while ago there were some Ukrainian asylum seekers – is there a difference between that group of folks and the asylum seekers we’re looking at now to influx into our community?”
“For those coming in from Ukraine, we knew when they were coming in,” Anjeski said. “We knew what health screening they had, we knew what they needed for vaccinations and we have partnered with Family Health Network, for the most part we’re giving them the things that they needed. That’s the difference. We knew, for the most part, what their health screening was, what immunizations they needed here. We don’t have any information on any of that.”
However, Kelley-Widmer said asylum seekers are vaccinated in New York City.
“If people are sent to upstate New York, they will be folks who first, at least have, temporary lawful permission from our government to be in the United States, and have been screened for other major issues that could impact communities,” she said.
– Margaret Mellott
Cortland County’s state of emergency blocking asylum seekers from entering the county – particularly its phrasing targeting those asylum seekers – leaves the county open to a lawsuit, a Cornell University law professor said Wednesday.
A representative for the New York Civil Liberties Union – which is already suing two counties for similar bans – identified the very same language as an area of concern.
“These orders are going to be discriminatory in impact and on their face, meaning in their text, because in the order they explicitly singled out migrants and asylum seekers,” said Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer, Cornell law professor with expertise in human rights and immigration.
County Legislature Chairman Kevin Fitch (R-Homer, Preble, Scott) declared the state of emergency May 12, blocking largely Latino asylum seekers expected to enter through the nation’s southern border and be bused to New York City. That came following the end of Title 42 a day earlier, banning asylum seekers under a COVID-era health concern.
No municipality, hotel, motel, multi-family dwelling unit or other property owner in Cortland County can house asylum seekers without Fitch’s permission. Violators face a Class B misdemeanor and a fine of up to $2,000 per asylum seeker housed.
The declaration followed New York City Mayor Eric Adams announcement of a plan to bus what asylum seekers may arrive – the city has sheltered about 65,000 over the past year – to shelters in Rockland County.
One of the key factors in the NYCLU pursuing cases against Rockland and Orange counties was the language naming migrants and asylum seekers, said Amy Belsher, NYCLU director of immigrants’ rights litigation.
“Orders that contain the same language as the orders in Rockland and Orange counties are unconstitutional and unlawful for much the same reasons,” Belsher said.
Section A, paragraph 1, of Cortland County’s emergency order reads: “No municipality may make contracts with persons, businesses, or entities doing business within the county to transport migrants or asylum seekers to locations in the county, or to house persons at locations in the county for any length of time without the express written permission of the county legislative chair.”
The NYCLU cited similar language in its suit against Rockland and Orange, saying it violated the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the law, and Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“Attempting to justify these draconian measures, the defendants have invoked an emergency that does not exist, raising the specter of ‘thousands’ of immigrants entering the counties and burdening social services,” the group states in its class action complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. “But there are no large-scale plans for migrants to move to these counties nor any immediate need for the counties to absorb the costs of caring for the limited migrants who do choose to do so.”
Fitch, County Administrator Rob Corpora and County Attorney Victoria Monty could not be reached Tuesday and Wednesday for comment.
“The issue that has been raised by many of my constituents is the legality of this (emergency order),” said Legislator Cathy Bischoff (D-Cortland) at a meeting Monday of the Cortland County Legislature, meeting as a committee of the whole. “I understand the need from a COVID point of view, or being able to be protected in this county. I also understand that people who seek asylum have the right to seek asylum.”
“Even if such an order were to actually succeed in barring anyone from coming to Cortland County, this kind of executive or emergency orders that have been issued across multiple upstate counties, are likely going to be inviting a class action litigation and that can be really costly for the county,” Kelley-Widmer said.
