The New York City Council’s Common Sense Caucus has sent a letter asking the state’s Supreme Court to amend the “right to shelter” rules to allow Big Apple officials to turn away illegal immigrants if resources are unavailable to house them.
Council member Robert Holden, a registered Democrat, recently posted his letter to New York Supreme Court Judge Erika Edwards on X (formerly Twitter), revealing his request, backed by seven other city council members, to amend the state’s rules requiring officials to pay for shelters for illegals.
Holden’s letter let the Supreme Court know that they are supporting the defendants and the City of New York in efforts to seek an amendment in the Callahan vs. Carey right-to-shelter ruling that “would allow the City to cease the right to shelter when it ‘lacks the resources and capacity to establish and maintain sufficient shelter sites.'”
Right to shelter wasn't meant for the whole world. We've been at a tipping point for some time and can't continue down this road.
— Robert Holden (@BobHoldenNYC) August 22, 2023
The @NYCCouncil Common Sense Caucus penned a letter to Judge Edwards, asking to ease the burden on New Yorkers by reining in the right to shelter. pic.twitter.com/RL16TLfbRi
In 1979, the Callahan vs. Carey decision ensured the right to shelter for homeless people in New York City. But the decades-old ruling is woefully outdated, the Common Sense Caucus says.
“On May 22, 2023, Assistant Corporation Counsel Jonathan Pines wrote to the court that New York City was in crisis due to an unprecedented influx of migrants, which had compelled the city to extend itself ‘further than its resources will allow,'” the letter reads, “placing in jeopardy the City’s obligation to… provide for the well-being of all its citizens.'”
“In the three months since, this crisis has escalated and the need for relief from this consent decree is more urgent than ever. Our city is long past its breaking point,” the group’s letter continued.
“When the parties signed the Callahan vs. Carey consent degree 42 years ago, they could not have possibly imagined the dire situation the City finds itself in now, nor did they contemplate that the newly created right to shelter would apply to migrants who are neither United States citizens nor New Yorkers,” the letter said.
The legislators also noted that the right to shelter has been amended several times, including to add certain limits, so it is clear that the ruling “does not extend the right to shelter to anyone, under any circumstance, for any period of time,” they said.
WATCH: Migrants Waiting for Entry to Roosevelt Hotel
emorris“Unfortunately, even as duly elected Members of the New York City Council, we do not have the authority to provide a legislative solution to this current crisis,” the letter states. “That authority is entirely yours,” the letter reminds the state’s Supreme Court.
“We urge you to do what is right for the residents of New York City and grant the Defendants’ motion to limit the right to shelter and provide urgently needed relief from this consent decree,” the letter concludes.
The letter is signed by Holden and council members, including Joseph Borelli, Inna Vernikov, David Carr, Joann Ariola, Vickie Paladino, Kalman Yeger, and Ari Kagan.
WATCH: Migrants Waiting for Entry to Roosevelt Hotel
Saul AcevedoThe case has become a hot potato for some New York Democrats. State Attorney General Letitia James, for instance, is refusing to even represent the Democrat governor in the lawsuit seeking to expand the state’s right-to-shelter rules, an expansion that would force the government to fund even more shelters.
On the other hand, at least one New York county executive has announced that he won’t take any more border crossers from New York City Mayor Eric Adams, right to shelter rules or not.
On August 12, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz demanded that Mayor Adams stop bussing illegals from New York City to his northern New York county after two of Adams’ migrants were arrested and accused of rape in Erie County shelters.
The influx of illegal aliens has easily reached crisis levels. According to CBS News, more than 95,000 migrants have arrived in New York City since the spring alone.
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