Federal Judge Blocks NY Counties' Orders Targeting Migrants

A federal judge has blocked two New York counties' orders that aimed to prevent New York City from sending migrants to hotels in their jurisdictions. The counties had barred local hotels and motels from making rooms available to migrants from New York City. The judge found that the plaintiffs' arguments that migrants were being discriminated against on the basis of national origin, alienage, and race, which violates the equal protection clause under the Fourteenth Amendment, were convincing. The controversy is one of many that arose between cities and states across the country as they seek to shift migrants to different jurisdictions.