Kansas’ Democratic governor on Thursday scuttled a small legal settlement favored by top Republican officials between the state and the owner of a Wichita fitness studio forced to shut down during the first months of the coronavirus pandemic and then operate under restrictions.

The settlement would have cost the state $4,305.46 and ended a lawsuit filed in December 2020 by Ryan Floyd and his business, Omega Bootcamps Inc. The case has yet to go to trial in Sedgwick County District Court in Wichita, and Attorney General Kris Kobach asked Gov. Laura Kelly and eight leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature to sign off, as required by state law.

Six of those eight legislative leaders are Republicans, and all six voted to approve the settlement during a live online WebEx meeting that Kelly convened. But Kelly opposed it, along with the House and Senate’s top Democrats, and under Kansas law, the governor’s action decided the issue.

Kelly did not explain why she opposed the settlement, though a spokesperson later said in a text that the settlement ‘is not in the best interest of the state.’ The governor and the lawmakers had no public discussion of the settlement but met in private for 35 minutes with two members of Kobach’s staff.

The governor cut off public discussion before the private session with Kobach’s staff, even though House Democratic Leader Vic Miller asked to have the case verbally summarized in public. The Associated Press requested by email before the meeting that the discussion be held in public.

‘We had this meeting here today, and you voted ‘no,’ ‘ Republican state Sen. Rick Billinger, who chairs the Senate budget committee, told Kelly, as she moved to adjourn the meeting immediately after the decision. ‘I mean, I don’t understand that.’

Kelly said, ‘I mean it’s very clear; I voted ‘no,’ ‘ and then said they could have a discussion after the group adjourned — out of public view.

Ryan Kriegshauser, an attorney representing Floyd and Omega Bootcamps, called Kelly’s action ‘an insult to common sense,’ and Floyd said the settlement amount represented the rent he still had to pay during 53 days he remained closed because of COVID-19 restrictions.

‘All the dude ever wanted was his rent back,’ said Josh Ney, another attorney representing Floyd. ‘Now the state will likely spend untold thousands to continue litigating this case.’

The state asked the judge handling the lawsuit to dismiss it without a trial in October 2021. But the judge has not ruled on that request. Miller, a veteran attorney, said he expects the judge to dismiss the lawsuit.

‘Just in general, when we become an easy target for cases that have no merit, it encourages other cases with no merit to be filed,’ Miller said. ‘You have to look at the bigger picture.’

The lawsuit argued that the state used Floyd’s and his business’ private property ‘for the benefit of the general public’ when it and local officials imposed restrictions to check the spread of COVID-19. Statewide restrictions started with Kelly’s order shutting down most businesses for five weeks, starting in late March 2020.

The lawsuit cited part of the state’s emergency management law that says people can seek compensation in court if their property is ‘commandeered or otherwise used’ by state or local officials. Miller said that language doesn’t cover COVID-19 restrictions, while the lawsuit contends it does.

Kriegshauser said it’s notable that the judge has been ‘struggling’ for more than 18 months with a decision on whether the case should go forward. Also, the Legislature whittled away over time at the power of the governor and local officials to shutter businesses or issue mask mandates in response to criticism of their actions.

‘Of course there is merit to this action,’ Kriegshauser said of the lawsuit.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, Omega Bootcamps received two pandemic relief loans totaling about $24,000 in 2020 and 2021. In his lawsuit, Floyd said he wants an appraiser to be appointed to set the amount of damages owed by the state.

Kelly spokesperson Brianna Johnson noted those loans in defending the governor’s action.

Kobach was elected attorney general last year but served as secretary of state, Kansas’ top elections official, from 2011 to 2019, and Kriegshauser worked for him as an attorney and policy deputy in 2011-12. Lawyers outside the attorney general’s office have handled the state’s defense in the lawsuit.

Kelly’s action came the same day as the formal end of the U.S. national public health emergency for COVID-19. In Kansas, Republican legislative leaders forced an end to a state of emergency in June 2021, about three months earlier than Kelly wanted.

The lawsuit was put on hold by the judge in 2021 so that Kriegshauser could urge Kansas lawmakers to use federal COVID-19 relief funds to compensate small businesses for their financial losses during the pandemic. Republican lawmakers approved a plan that could have set aside tens of millions of dollars, but Kelly vetoed it, arguing that the ‘well-intentioned’ measure violated a national coronavirus relief law.

In 2022, Kelly and lawmakers agreed on providing up to $50 million worth of refunds on the local property taxes paid by retail ‘storefront’ businesses shut down or restricted during the pandemic, up to $5,000 for each business.

But critics have said the process of getting the aid is difficult, and the $5,000 cap discourages businesses from applying. The state Department of Revenue reported Thursday that it had approved 23 applications worth more than $22,000 in aid.

Discriminating against someone because of weight when it comes to work, housing or in public accommodation would be barred in New York City under a bill passed Thursday by the City Council.

The measure would amend city law to add weight and height to the list of identifiers that are considered protected, like race, sexual orientation, gender identity and national origin.

‘People with different body types are not only denied jobs and promotions that they deserve, their whole existence has also been denied by a society that has offered no legal remedy for this prejudice,’ said Councilmember Shaun Abreu, who sponsored the legislation.

He said New York would join a handful of cities in the country with similar protections. Michigan is the only state with a law that expressly bans weight discrimination, while in Washington state, a court ruled that obesity is covered under an anti-discrimination law for employees with disabilities.

A few other states have had legislation introduced on the issue for consideration.

The New York City bill carves out exemptions such as jobs where height or weight considerations are integral to the role being performed.

It now goes to Mayor Eric Adams, who has said in the past that weight shouldn’t be a basis for treating people differently. There was no immediate response to an email sent to his office seeking comment.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, warned the ‘the worst is ahead’ for the intensifying migrant crisis, as districts border-wide brace for the multitude of migrants surging the U.S. after the expiration of Title 42. 

‘Many of my cities have declared a state of emergency,’ Gonzales said during in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital Thursday. ‘Basically, my office is turned into a mini FEMA office… Everybody is inundated at the same time. So that’s why I’ve been in constant communications with my local leaders to go, You tell me what you need when you need it, so that way I can go to the highest levels and advocate for the things that you need.’

The House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would increase border security amid the expiration of Title 42 — the pandemic-era policy that allowed the immediate expulsion of migrants from America for the past three years — but Gonzales stressed that ‘this bill does nothing’ without action from the Biden administration.

‘It doesn’t end with 218 votes in the House. It’s only the start,’ Gonzales said of the House bill. ‘This ends when the President of the United States signs a bill into law that incorporates border security and has some immigration reform applications in there.’

The Texas congressman also revealed that House Republicans reportedly removed language from the bill that would have labeled the cartel as ‘terrorists.’

‘This is a part I’m a little disappointed in. I pushed hard to label cartels as terrorists, because that’s what they are. And I got a lot of pushback on that. And at the 11th hour, a lot of House Republicans removed the word terrorists. I guess that offends Republicans that we call cartels the terrorists,’ Gonzales said. 

‘In a district like mine, this bill does nothing,’ he told Fox. ‘I’ve been on the phone nonstop to include, with the secretary of homeland security, saying ya know what are the things were some things that I think need to happen today, not ten years from now.’

Gonzales is continuing push for a 14% increase in pay for border patrol agents through the Border Patrol Pay Parity Act, as he seeks to reform the current immigration system. ‘The asylum process is completely broken, and it needs to be it needs to be fixed,’ the congressman said.

The representative recalled having a ‘love hate relationship’ with the Biden administration, as congressional Republicans and Democrats clash on ways to manage the crisis at the southern border.

‘I think we have a love hate relationship. They know how active I am in the space and how involved I am and also how much my district is a large percentage of the border. They also know when they don’t respond, that I’ll be the first one to kind of knock them over the head, if you will. 

On Thursday, border patrol agents reported 10,000 migrant encounters for the third day in a row. While there remains a multitude of illegal immigrants make their way into America, Gonzales noted that there has also been an increase in ICE deportations.

‘But you know what? There’s a lot of coordination. One of the things that I was very happy to see was in the last few days, there’s been more ICE flights that sent people back to their country of origin. I know yesterday there was a couple hundred that got sent back to Guatemala. And these were some of the things that I was working on.’

He highlighted making real progress with the administration.

‘Last week, I spoke with the president of Guatemala. He was having difficulties connecting with the administration. So yesterday I worked with the administration to connect with the president of Guatemala. And then, yesterday, 200 Guatemalans get flown back to their country of origin. To me, that is moving the ball forward. That’s a real tangible thing that is helping kind of secure the border. Some of the political theater that’s up here, that’s all politics.’

As Title 42’s expiration prompted tens of thousands of migrants to journey towards the U.S. in hopes of being allowed entry, Biden sent 1,500 active military troops in an attempt to control the influx of illegal immigrants heading North.

‘I spent 20 years in the military, fought in two wars, Iraq and Afghanistan. Our military should be trained to fight and win wars and not do administrative work,’ Gonzales said in response to Biden’s order. ‘I am of the mindset, if you want this crisis to end you, you surge immigration judges to the border, and you have their cases heard in days, not years.’

Gov. Greg Abbot of Texas also deployed the national guard to aid in the border crisis, but Gonzales reiterated his claim that the border crisis needs to be address at a federal level for there to be real change.

‘I’m a little mixed. As a Texas resident, we have spent billions of dollars on border security where we could have spent that money on school safety or other things. On the other end, I know the governor is doing everything he possibly can to keep his head above water,’ Gonzales said. ‘But this is a federal issue, and it can only be solved when the federal government enforces the laws that are already on the books. Anything else is — I don’t think it meets the mark. But, you know, I understand whether it’s local or state, folks are doing everything they can to alleviate some of the stress.’

Title 42, the Trump-era policy  used to manage the border crisis by allowing the swift expulsion of illegal migrants from the U.S., reached its expiration date Thursday.

In anticipation of that expiration, tens of thousands of migrants began journeying through Mexico in hopes of finding asylum in the United States. 

The unfolding crisis is quickly turning into one of the largest migrant surges America’s southern border has ever seen.

On Tuesday, President Biden said he anticipated the crisis at the border will be ‘chaotic for a while.’

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recorded about 10,000 migrant encounters daily in the days leading up to Title 42’s expiration, but this number is expected to increase. 

The chief of Border Patrol released a memo that revealed agents would begin releasing migrants into America without a court date if the border becomes overwhelmed.

Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.

California’s reparations task force is pushing for the state to end cash bail and the prosecution of low-level crimes as part of its campaign to pressure the Golden State to make amends for slavery and anti-Black racism. 

The task force, which was created by state legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020, formally approved last weekend its final recommendations to the California Legislature, which will decide whether to enact the measures and send them to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

The recommendations included several proposals related to criminal justice, including the elimination of cash bail.

‘The cash bail system is at the core of many of the class and race-based inequities in the criminal legal system,’ the task force wrote in its proposal. ‘The task force accordingly recommends that the legislature take all steps necessary to definitively end cash bail.’

Democrats and progressive prosecutors across the country have in recent years taken steps to end cash bail, arguing it’s unfair to low-income people who can’t afford it. According to the committee’s final report outlining its proposals, a cash bail system allows those with resources to return to their homes and jobs while others remain in jail before their trials despite the presumption of innocence.

‘Pretrial detention can last months and even years, during which incarcerated individuals suffer countless harms, including deteriorating mental and physical health, risk of sexual violence and lasting trauma,’ the task force wrote. ‘These harms exert significant pressure on defendants to accept plea bargains in order to be released from custody rather than fighting the charges at trial.’

Many Republicans and other critics counter that bail helps keep people from committing crimes and that eliminating it will only incentivize more criminal behavior. A recent study found that criminal offenders let out with low bail or at no cost under zero-bail policies re-offended more often than those who posted bail.

Still, the Newsom-backed panel says racial disparities persist in pretrial detention outcomes, arguing the setting of bail hurts Black defendants more than White defendants. 

As a result, the committee wrote that California should codify ‘a presumption of pretrial release in all criminal cases,’ increase funding for ‘non-law enforcement pretrial services agencies to improve pretrial release support programs,’ and implement a ‘statewide zero bail schedule.’ Additionally, the task force calls for the legislature to create a framework for compensating people held before trials who were later acquitted or exonerated.

The task force’s proposal to eliminate cash bail appears to be part of a broader push to lessen penalties for criminals. Indeed, later in its report, the committee outlines what it describes as ‘overpolicing’ of Black Americans before calling for California to stop prosecuting low-level crimes.

‘Given the devastating impacts of this kind of over-policing, the task force recommends that the legislature prohibit law enforcement from criminally enforcing public disorder infractions and other low-level crimes,’ it wrote. 

‘Instead, a public health and safety institution, without criminal arrest or prosecution powers, would enforce prohibitions such as sleeping on the sidewalk, fare evasion, spitting on the train and similar transit-related or other public disorder violations that criminalize poverty.’

The task force goes on to propose those arrested or criminally prosecuted for such violations should be allowed to sue for damages or automatically receive a damages payout. Similarly, the report calls for the legislature to establish a way to compensate those previously convicted of loitering with intent to commit prostitution.

Such proposals wouldn’t be new for California, which has in recent years pursued several initiatives deemed soft on crime by critics. 

The state, for example, has changed crimes like theft of goods under $950 and drug possession from felonies to misdemeanors, reducing California’s prison population by 13,000 inmates. Prisoners are also able to shorten their sentences through good behavior.

In recent years, lawmakers in California have voted to limit gang-related sentence enhancements, allow loitering related to prostitution and automatically seal conviction and arrest records for most offenders not convicted of another felony within a four-year period. A bill under consideration would prevent police from using K-9s for arrests or crowd control.

The task force additionally recommends the legislature create a system to pay California inmates a ‘fair market value’ for their labor while in prison. These were among a host of other proposals related to criminal justice contained in the report — from abolishing the death penalty to abolishing certain legal protections for police officers that shield them from liability in many cases while carrying out their law enforcement duties.

The recommendations are part of an effort by the task force to remedy what the panel describes as an ‘unjust legal system’ toward Black Californians.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday blamed President Biden for the lack of progress so far in a deal that would allow the government to borrow more money once it hits the debt ceiling in early June.

Biden, McCarthy and other congressional leaders were scheduled to meet on Friday to talk about a possible deal to increase the borrowing limit and meet the GOP demand of reducing federal spending. But that meeting was pushed until next week, and McCarthy said the delay is because the White House isn’t budging.

‘I have not seen from there a seriousness of the White House that they want a deal,’ McCarthy told reporters Thursday. ‘It seems like they want a default more than they want a deal.’

McCarthy’s message is a sign that the two sides still have a ways to go before anything close to a deal can be reached. Democrats have insisted on a ‘clean’ debt ceiling increase so the government can pay its bills after June 1, while Republicans are seeking a spending cut of about $150 billion before they can agree to more debt.

The stalemate has the potential to roil financial markets as the deadline gets closer, although both sides have insisted that a default on the U.S. debt will not happen.

McCarthy said staff members have met over the last two days, but said there was not enough progress to warrant holding the Friday meeting with leaders.

‘We think it’s productive for the staff to meet again,’ McCarthy said, adding that both parties agreed to the delay.

‘The White House didn’t cancel the meeting,’ McCarthy said. ‘All of the leaders decided it’s probably the best of our interest to let the staff meet again before we get back together.’

Just two days ago, Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and other leaders agreed to hold staff level talks on how to raise the debt ceiling before the government is unable to pay its current obligations by early June. But even then, the White House made it clear it wanted to keep talks about the debt ceiling separate from talks about spending cuts.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital on Wednesday afternoon that talks from earlier in the week didn’t get very far, and said he didn’t have a readout of how Wednesday and Thursday talks had gone.

‘Yesterday and then today, whether they’re making progress, I don’t know,’ Emmer said. ‘But they’re still meeting and there’s a plan for a second meeting, at least of the speaker and the president.’

‘I assume based on what I’ve heard, that they were trying to say that they don’t like some things in the Republican plan without offering solutions,’ Emmer added.

‘I would say everybody is on their own. But right now the only deal that is out there is the deal that Kevin McCarthy and House Republicans passed,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘If Chuck Schumer could pass a debt ceiling proposal in the Senate, great, then you just have our conference — and Let’s hammer it out. But he can’t because they don’t have the votes to do that.’

Two high-profile Iowa Republicans – state Senate President Amy Sinclair and state House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl – are endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ expected presidential bid, Fox News has confirmed.

Word of the endorsements come two days ahead of DeSantis’ Saturday return to Iowa – the state whose caucuses lead off the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

The Florida governor will be in the heavily red northwestern part of the state in the late morning to headline Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra’s third annual Feenstra Family Picnic fundraiser in Sioux Center. Later in the day, he’ll head east to Cedar Rapids to headline an Iowa GOP fundraising event. 

Sources in DeSantis’ political orbit tell Fox News that Sinclair and Windschitl are expected to attend the governor’s events in Iowa on Saturday.

DeSantis will be in Iowa the same day as former President Donald Trump, who’s the current overwhelming front-runner in the Republican nomination race as he runs a third straight time for the White House. Trump is scheduled to hold an evening rally in Des Moines.

The two high-profile endorsements for DeSantis in Iowa – which were first reported by the Des Moines Register – come a week after he landed the support of a top state GOP lawmaker in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and second overall contest in the Republican nominating schedule. That endorsement came from state House Majority Leader Jason Osborne.

Trump released a dozen endorsements from Iowa Republican leaders ahead of a March stop in Davenport. 

And at a campaign event in New Hampshire two weeks ago, the former president unveiled a list of roughly 50 endorsements from Granite State Republicans.

While DeSantis remains on the 2024 sidelines, he’s expected to launch a presidential campaign in the coming weeks.

The governor said last week that he’ll decide ‘relatively soon’ whether he will launch a 2024 GOP presidential campaign.

DeSantis, who won an overwhelming 19-point gubernatorial re-election victory last November, said at a news conference last Friday marking the end of Florida’s legislative session, ‘I felt very confident going into November ’22 we were gonna do very well, but you really had to put up or shut up on that.’

Asked about his 2024 plans, the governor said, ‘What happens in the future? We’ll get on that relatively soon. You either gotta put or shut up on that as well. So we’ll see.’

But behind the scenes, he’s already made plenty of moves toward launching a campaign, including beefing up staff in Tallahassee. And the past couple of months, he’s made campaign-style stops in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, the first three states to vote in the GOP presidential nominating calendar. 

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said CNN ‘did the right thing’ by hosting him for a town hall Wednesday night, saying he ‘got the word out to millions of people that would generally not hear’ his point of view on a number of campaign issues.

Trump, the frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, participated in a CNN town hall Wednesday night, hosted by Kaitlan Collins. The network has been facing criticism for giving the former president a platform.

‘I was happy to do it,’ Trump told Fox News Digital. ‘I got the word out to millions of people that would generally not hear this point of view concerning things such as the border, inflation, the economy, energy independence, the Afghanistan catastrophe and more.’

‘CNN is taking a lot of heat,’ Trump said.

‘I think CNN did the right thing by putting me on—all you have to do is look at their fantastic ratings,’ Trump said.

He added: ‘It was an honor to do it.’ 

Fox News Digital reported Thursday that CNN was facing a ‘a fury of criticism’ from its own employees for airing the town hall. 

‘It’s hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN,’ media reporter Oliver Darcy wrote in the network’s ‘Reliable Sources’ newsletter. ‘It felt like 2016 all over again.’ 

Not all of the network’s staffers were upset by the event. 

‘We live in a democratic republic and Trump is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination,’ a staffer told Fox News Digital. ‘It’s not the media’s job to silence a politician they don’t like. The format was messy, but voters need to hear from both of the frontrunners, Trump and Biden. And by the way, Trump did what his base wanted but his performance last night was radioactive to moderates and undecideds.’

CNN has defended the decision to air the town hall. 

‘Kaitlan Collins exemplified what it means to be a world-class journalist. She asked tough, fair and revealing questions,’ a network spokesperson said. 

‘She followed up and fact-checked President Trump in real time to arm voters with crucial information about his positions as he enters the 2024 election as the Republican frontrunner,’ the spokesperson continued. ‘That is CNN’s role and responsibility: to get answers and hold the powerful to account.’ 

CNN CEO Chris Licht also defended the decision on Thursday morning in a call with staffers, according to former CNN media reporter Brian Stelter. 

Stelter, who founded the ‘Reliable Sources’ newsletter and was fired by Licht last year, tweeted tidbits from the call. 

‘You do not have to like the former president’s answers, but you can’t say that we didn’t get them,’ Licht said, according to Stelter. ‘While we all may have been uncomfortable hearing people clapping, that was also an important part of the story… America was served very well by what we did last night.’

Fox News’ Brian Flood, David Rutz and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation to prohibit vaccine and mask mandates on Thursday.

DeSantis’ announced his four new ‘Prescribe Freedom’ bills during an event in Destin. Senate Bill 252 prohibits workplaces, government agencies and schools from requiring COVID-19 vaccination or masks.

The governor began his speech by referencing the intense criticism that Florida faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

‘Everything we were doing in Florida, we were getting attacked. We were getting attacked by bureaucrats like Fauci. We were being attacked by the political left. We were being attacked by corporate media. And we were even attacked by some Republicans,’ DeSantis said.

‘I mean, that’s just kind of the way it goes. But we stuck to our guns because we believe that we are doing the right thing for the state,’ he added.

The legislation also formally denounces World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations in Florida. It also protects alternative COVID-19 treatments. 

‘You should have the right to try these [alternative COVID-19 treatments] under the supervision of your physician, and that is protected in the state of Florida,’ DeSantis said.

Another component of the legislation is Senate Bill 1387, which bans gain-of-function research. DeSantis said gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, was likely to blame for the pandemic.

‘What we know is there was gain-of-function research being conducted at Wuhan, and that very likely led to the emergence of COVID-19. And yet there really isn’t effective regulation,’ the governor said.

Senate Bill 1580 also ensures freedom of speech and whistleblower protections for physicians. 

‘We want our physicians practicing evidence based medicine. We don’t want it to just defer to authority or to just follow the herd,’ DeSantis explained. ‘So that is now law in the state of Florida.’

DeSantis’ remarks come nearly a week after the WHO announced that the COVID-19 pandemic was no longer a global emergency.

But despite the announcement, WHO officials still warn that the pandemic is technically not over. Countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East have reported some spikes in COVID-19 cases.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday slammed Rockland County Executive Ed Day as ‘racist’ and ‘antisemitic’ after the official issued a restraining order blocking the Democratic mayor from sending busloads of asylum seekers. 

Adams tried to distance himself from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, telling reporters that New York City was footing the bill and only taking volunteers. He stressed that his office has been in communication with Rockland and Orange county officials — an assertion the counties have challenged.  

‘When you look at the County Exec [Ed] Day, I mean this guy has a record of being antisemitic, you know, his racist comments,’ Adams said, without providing examples. ‘You know, his thoughts and how he responded to this, it shows a lack of leadership.’

Adams’ office pointed Fox News Digital to past reports which portrayed Day’s remarks as pitting voters against a bloc of Hasidic and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities.

Day shot back at Adams, telling Fox News Digital, ‘the mayor can call me every name in the book to deflect the reality of this clear disregard for our laws. And maybe he can explain his own documented ‘racist comments.’ 

Day was referring to comments Adams, a former police officer, made before he became mayor, in which called White cops ‘crackers.’ Adams later apologized for those remarks. 

Adams’ Thursday comments came as his plan to move several hundred asylum seekers to hotels in New York’s Orange and Rockland counties moved forward.  

Leaders in Orange and Rockland counties have pushed back against Adams’ plan to send over 300 migrants to Rockland County’s Armoni Inn & Suites hotel in Orangeburg, and Orange County’s The Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh, the latter of which saw migrants arrive on Thursday.

Rockland County successfully obtained a temporary restraining order from a state Supreme Court judge on Tuesday, after arguing that the move violated local zoning regulations.

Adams said Thursday the city would not be deterred by legal challenges. 

‘You can’t use the court to deny people to move around the State of New York,’ Adams said. ‘We’re going to challenge all of the legal obstacles that are attempting to be placed in our way because it would set a bad precedent if someone was saying in the State of New York that you are not allowed to come here.’ 

Fox News’ Michael Lee contributed to this report.