OPINION & ORDER On May 11, 2023, Plaintiffs Sidi Mouhamed Deide, Adama Sy, Abdallahi Salem, and Mouhamed Said Maloum Din (hereinafter, “Plaintiffs”), on behalf of themselves and a putative class, filed the instant action against Defendants Edwin J. Day, the Rockland County Executive (hereinafter, the “Rockland County Defendant”) and Steven M. Neuhaus, the Orange County Executive (hereinafter, the “Orange County Defendant”) challenging Rockland County and Orange County emergency executive orders (hereinafter, the “EOs”) that prevent migrants and asylum seekers from relocating into their counties by, inter alia, barring local hotels/ and motels from making their rooms available these individuals. (ECF No. 1.) The EOs were issued in response to New York City’s program, announced on May 5, 2023, whereby New York City is transporting migrants and asylum seekers who opted into the program to temporarily live in two hotels it contracted with (the Crossroads Hotel, located in Newburgh, Orange County and the Armoni Inn and Suites, located in Orangeburg, Rockland County). Under the program, New York City expects to provide lodging, meals, and social services to these individuals for a period of four months. An amended complaint (ECF No. 11, the “AC”) was filed on May 15, 2023 adding in an additional Plaintiff, Jhonny Neira, and raising the following claims against the Rockland County and Orange County Defendants: (i) violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (insofar as it relates to interstate commerce); (ii) violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; (iii) violation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution; (iv) violation of Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C §2000a et seq; (v) violation of N.Y. Executive Law §24; (vi) violation of N.Y. Executive Law §296(2)(a); and (vii) violation of 42 U.S.C. §1981. That same day, Plaintiff filed a motion for preliminary injunction and a proposed Order to Show Cause with Emergency Relief (ECF Nos. 12 and 16). The Court signed the Order to Show Cause on May 16, 2023 (ECF No. 20) and held oral argument on the preliminary injunction application on June 1, 2023. During the oral argument, the Court directed the parties to submit supplemental briefing on their abstention arguments in light of recent temporary restraining orders issued by state courts in cases relating to New York City’s program. Upon the Court’s careful consideration of the parties’ moving and opposition papers and their arguments made at the June 1, 2023 hearing, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ application for preliminary injunction. The Court makes clear that the Court’s instant decision does not opine on or interfere with temporary restraining orders that were issued in state courts, described below. See infra. In those cases, the state courts are contending exclusively with state law questions regarding whether New York City’s program is unlawful under New York law, or whether certain municipalities can enforce their local zoning and municipal codes against the hotels/motels housing the migrants and asylum seekers in purported violation of those laws. See infra. FACTUAL BACKGROUND The following facts are taken from the parties’ submissions, including Plaintiffs’ AC. See ECF No. 13, Plaintiffs’ opening memorandum (“Pls.’ Mem.”); ECF No. 14, declaration of Amy Belsher in support of preliminary injunction motion (“Belsher’s Decl.”); ECF No. 15, declaration of Lourdes Chavez in support of preliminary injunction motion (“Chavez Decl.”); ECF No. 18, affidavit of Amy Belsher in support of order to show cause; ECF No. 29, Orange County Defendants opposition memorandum (“Orange County Opp.”); ECF No. 27, declaration of Matthew J. Nothnagle in opposition to preliminary injunction motion on behalf of Orange County Defendant (“Nothnagle Decl.”); ECF No. 28, affidavit of Darcie M. Miller in opposition to preliminary injunction motion on behalf of Orange County Defendant (“Miller Aff.”); ECF No. 35 Rockland County Defendant opposition memorandum (“Rockland County Opp.”); ECF No. 31, declaration of Larraine Feiden in opposition to preliminary injunction motion on behalf of Rockland County Defendant (“Feiden Decl”); ECF No. 37, reply memorandum in support of preliminary injunction motion (“Reply”); ECF No. 38, reply declaration of Amy Belsher (“Belsher Reply Decl.”); ECF No. 39, Jhonny Neira declaration in support of preliminary injunction motion (“Neira Decl.”); ECF No. 53, Plaintiffs’ supplemental memorandum (“Pls.’ Supp. Mem.”); ECF No. 53, Defendants’ supplemental memorandum in support of abstention (“Defs.’ Supp. Mem.”); and ECF No. 54, Matthew G. Parisi’s declaration with accompanying supplemental exhibits in support of abstention (“Parisi Decl.”). Additionally, “in deciding a motion for a preliminary injunction, a court may consider the entire record including affidavits and other hearsay evidence.” See Helio Logistics, Inc. v. Mehta, No. 22-CV-10047, 2023 WL 1517687, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 3, 2023) (cleaned up). I. MIGRANT CRISIS IN NEW YORK CITY Over the past year, over 60,800 migrants have arrived in New York City. (AC 13.) As a result of the large influx of migrants, New York City began to establish and operate temporary “Human Emergency Relief and Response Centers,” and has provided temporary housing, food, medical care, and case work and other social services for over 36,738 of these migrants. (Id.) As of May 11, 2023, the policy changes with respect to the U.S.-Mexico border is expected to change, and New York City officials expect as many as 1,000 people a day to begin arriving in New York. Id. 14.) New York City has stated that its shelter system is operating beyond its capacity. (Id. 15.) On May 9, 2023, New York Governor Hochul declared a state of emergency due to “the arrival of increased numbers of migrants seeking shelter” in New York City and State. (Id. 33.) Governor Hochul’s directive authorizes agencies and the Red Cross “to assist affected local governments and individuals in responding to and recovering from this disaster, and to provide such other assistance as necessary to protect the public health and safety.” (Id.; Belsher Decl., Exh. 9, N.Y. Exec. Order 28.) The order also suspends certain state laws governing contracts, purchasing rules, and real property which will allow the state to buy goods and lease buildings, and enable additional spaces to be used to shelter migrants throughout the state. (Id. 33; Belsher Decl., Exh. 9, N.Y. Exec. Order 28.) On May 5, 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued the New York City Emergency Executive Order 398, which declares a state of emergency in New York in connection with the migrant crisis. See N.Y. Exec. Order 398. That same day, Mayor Adams announced a “new, voluntary program,” open to the plaintiffs and other migrants located in makeshift shelters around New York City. (Id. 16.) Under the program, described by Mayor Adams as a way for participants to establish “connections to local communities as they build a stable life in New York State,” New York City would offer transportation to Orange and Rockland Counties, where program participants would continue to receive temporary lodging, meals, and social services funded by New York City. (Id.) To effectuate this program, New York City entered into contracts with two hotels: the Crossroads Hotel, located in Newburgh in Orange County, and the Armoni Inn and Suites, located in Orangeburg in Rockland County. (Id. 17.) New York City expects to provide lodging, meals, and social services for a period of four months. (Belsher Decl., Exh. 12.) II. PLAINTIFFS OPTED INTO THE NEW YORK CITY PROGRAM Plaintiffs are a class of migrants and asylum seekers who are participating in or will beparticipating in New York City’s program that provides transportation to Rockland and Orange Counties and temporary lodging, meals, and social services for migrants and asylum seekers in the program. (AC 3.) Each named plaintiff has or had been living in a makeshift shelter for migrants in Brooklyn, NY, and volunteered to participate in the City’s program as they wished to relocate to Rockland or Orange Counties. (Id.
4, 18, 19.) They were scheduled to travel to a hotel in one of the counties on May 10 but were unable to do so initially because of actions taken by Rockland and Orange County (Id. 4.) On May 11, four of the plaintiffs (Side Mouhamed Deide, Abdallahi Salem, Mouhamed Said Maloum Din, and Jhonny Neira) traveled by bus to the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh and were permitted to enter. (Id.; see also Chavez Decl.
