In twist, Riverhead removes the terms ‘migrants’ and ‘asylum seekers’ from controversial executive order  

In the latest twist in the Town of Riverhead’s legal battle with New York City to prevent the placement here of migrants and asylum seekers being bussed from the southern border to the city, officials last week changed the language in the ongoing executive order to remove any use of the terms “migrants” and “asylum seekers.”

In May, Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar declared an emergency and issued an executive order barring local facilities from entering into contracts with the city to house any migrants who might be sent to Riverhead. The order, which has been renewed 13 times so far, was met with derision and claims of discrimination from an angry group of residents at the first Town Board meeting following the order.

Town attorney Erik Howard said that the decision to change the language was recommended recently by  special counsel hired to defend the town against a lawsuit brought this summer by New York City.   

“Essentially, we took out specifically that this would apply to migrants and say that this is going to apply to everyone,” Mr. Howard said.

In June, New York City sued Suffolk County, Riverhead Town and 29 other municipalities for issuing “unlawful emergency executive orders” to prohibit the city “from arranging for even a small number of asylum seekers to stay … within their jurisdiction.” At that point, according to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the city had received 74,000 migrants from southern states within the past year.

In its lawsuit, New York City claims Riverhead is violating the state’s Human Rights Law, which makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of citizenship or immigration status.

Mr. Howard said the town’s “intention was never to be discriminatory — and in the litigation with the city making this change, we felt like that would help us sort of clarify our intent here. Our intent is to maintain the applicability of the Riverhead town code and the permits and site plans issued and approved by the building and planning departments.”

Mr. Howard said the July 20 language change, first reported by RiverheadLocal, is also intended to protect the people already being housed in the town from being displaced by future contracts with New York City or representatives of the city.

He said the two large scale, non-transient facilities currently operating in town — the Wading River Motel and the Greenview Inn on West Main Street — are in contract with the Suffolk County Department of Social Services to house a portion of the county’s homeless.

Mr. Howard said the facilities are “supposed to be temporary.”

However, he added, “in our conversations with [county] DSS, they try to get them out within 30 days, but it doesn’t always happen. So sometimes they stay longer.”

The order, according to Mr. Howard,  “says any shelter facilities operating within the town refrain from displacing housed individuals that they already have, those individuals with no confirmed permanent housing, for the purposed of entering into a contract … with another entity, either the city or acting on behalf of the city.  

“So basically: don’t take people who are placed temporarily and don’t have a permanent solution — don’t displace them to take on another contract.”

Mr. Howard said that the new language in the order is “applicable to your types of uses of facilities that would be considered short term, transient — hotel, motel, cottages, inns, bed & breakfast —and basically says do not accept any kind of contract or arrangement where you’re housing people for permanent or long term.”

Asked whether he thought the original language specifically citing migrants and asylum-seekers was a mistake or a violation of law, Mr. Howard said: “I don’t think that it violated any law.

“I think it addressed the issue and potential problem that was present to us sort of in the moment,” he said, “but our intent and purpose in declaring the emergency and issuing the executive orders was to make sure that the facilities we have in town that are designed and approved for specific things maintain those uses.”

In the original emergency declaration and accompanying statement issued in May, town officials contended that Riverhead already does “more than its fair share” when it comes to housing low-income individuals.

The declaration notes that in Riverhead there are currently “an estimated 224 overcrowded apartments or over-occupied homes,” as well as, “91 unlawful apartments … 35 unsafe buildings … two large-scale, non-transient homeless shelters … 14 sober homes … and three outdoor homeless encampments.”