New York’s Attorney General Breaks With Gov. Hochul Over Migrant Crisis

Divisions among New York Democrats widened on Thursday around the influx of migrants arriving from the southern border, as the state attorney general took the unusual step of declining to represent Gov. Kathy Hochul in legal proceedings over how to care for thousands of newcomers.

The attorney general, Letitia James, did not immediately publicize her reasoning. But a person familiar with her thinking said that Ms. James, a New York City native, had fundamental policy disagreements with the governor over the state’s role in managing the crisis.

Their disagreement appears to have come to a head in recent days as a State Supreme Court judge in Manhattan began pushing the state government to take more responsibility in helping the city meet a unique, decades-old mandate to provide shelter to anyone who seeks it.

Mayor Eric Adams has made no secret that he wants the help. As thousands of new migrants overwhelm the five boroughs, he has asked the governor to provide greater financial assistance to the city and develop a coordinated plan to send arriving migrants across the state.

Ms. James has not detailed her position. Ms. Hochul, a moderate from Buffalo, indicated in public comments on Thursday that she would continue to help but was concerned the legal proceeding could open the door for the courts to extend the right-to-shelter mandate statewide.

“We believe — and I’m convinced — that the right to shelter is the result of a consent decree undertaken by the City of New York,” Ms. Hochul told reporters in Albany. “The state is not a party to that, so right to shelter does not expand to the whole of the state.”

The governor also tried to minimize her differences with Ms. James. But the rare break offered fresh evidence of how asylum seekers traveling north from the southern border have forced state leaders to make increasingly uncomfortable decisions and have surfaced unforeseen political fissures.

Though their politics do not always align — Ms. James is often to Ms. Hochul’s left — the attorney general traditionally acts as the governor’s lawyer in court. Only rarely have elected officials in that position turned down the duty in high-profile matters.

State officials notified the judge, Erika Edwards, in a public filing that a private law firm, Selendy Gay Elsberg, would represent Ms. Hochul going forward.

It all played out as aides to Mr. Adams and Ms. Hochul renewed pressure on the federal government to step up its own assistance in meetings on Thursday with a senior adviser to President Biden, Tom Perez, who had been dispatched to the city.

The mayor and governor have asked Washington to expedite work authorizations for the migrants and send more money to help house and care for them, obligations that the city estimates could cost as much as $12 billion over three years.

“Just think about your ancestors,” Mr. Adams said on Wednesday. “Can you imagine coming here, if you were African, Irish, Jewish, Polish, German, Chinese, coming here and your family members, your mom, your dad was told, ‘You cannot provide for the basic needs of your family.’ That is so inhumane. That is so anti-American.”

Mr. Perez left City Hall without speaking to a crowd of reporters waiting for him. Camille Joseph Varlack, Mr. Adams’s chief of staff, said the officials had “a good conversation.”

In a statement, a White House spokesman pinned blame for the state of the immigration system on congressional inaction. But the spokesman did not directly address some of the steps that New York’s leaders have been asking for and that the president could take unilaterally.

The legal dispute involving the right-to-shelter mandate has its origins in the late 1970s, but came to the fore again last week after hundreds of migrants were left to sleep on the sidewalk outside the city’s main intake center.

Judge Edwards ordered the city to send the state “a proposal identifying the resources and facilities owned, operated and/or controlled by the state” that the city needs to continue providing shelter for everyone who asks.

The city sent its proposal on Wednesday, but it has not been publicly released. The state has until Aug. 15 to respond.

Ms. Hochul has already pledged $1 billion to assist the city and promised to seek more funding in next year’s budget. In her comments on Thursday, she said Albany was moving expeditiously to confront an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis” and noted that the city had yet to tap into all the state funds already available.

But a range of allies and critics across the state have pressed the governor to take a more visible role managing the crisis.

The Adams administration sought to send its own message with a new two-minute video that the mayor posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. In the video, Mr. Adams vowed that the city would lead the nation in its efforts to accommodate asylum seekers.

The video was then shared by at least 15 city agencies, including even the Taxi and Limousine Commission and the Department of Correction, which runs the city’s jails.

Andy Newman contributed reporting.