- Municipal officials in Mount Pleasant, Westchester, are embroiled in a court battle with the Jewish Child Care Association (JCCA)
- City tries to stop JCCA from housing asylum-seeking children
A wealthy New York city has launched a legal initiative to prevent a suburban daycare from taking in unaccompanied immigrant children.
Officials in Mount Pleasant, Westchester, are embroiled in a court battle with the Jewish Child Care Association (JCCA) over whether asylum-seeking minors can be housed at the Pleasantville Cottage school.
The JCCA first sued the city after officials declared an emergency order to keep immigrants out of the city; The child care group charged that the measure prevented them from carrying out their mission of sheltering children in need.
They said in their lawsuit that the children “have suffered traceable harm as a direct result of the city’s orders.”
Then, on April 12, the city countersued the JCCA seeking an injunction to keep migrant children out of its facilities, citing zoning issues.
Town Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi, a Republican, has been trying to close the school for a long time.
The JCCA has an agreement with the United States Office of Refugee Resettlement to host children at its Mount Pleasant school.
The JCCA has an agreement with the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement to bring children to Mount Pleasant School, which is typically used as a local residential treatment center for children with behavioral disorders.
But the city is trying to block the deal, alleging in its lawsuit that establishing a shelter at the school would violate the municipality’s zoning code.
City Attorney Darius Chafizadeh told The Examiner: ‘It’s definitely a zoning issue. They can’t have a shelter on that campus. The zoning code does not allow it.
City officials, including Republican Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi, have long tried to close the school, claiming its residents have caused problems in the city.
In the first six months of 2023, there were more than 450 police calls to the scene, including multiple violent crimes, according to The Examiner.
They now argue that the JCCA cannot handle youth living on campus and that having more children on campus would increase the chances of problems.
Fulgenzi has openly opposed immigrants and has issued several emergency orders in an effort to prevent them from living in the city.
He said the orders were necessary to prevent a “flood” of immigrants from nearby New York City.
The city is trying to block the measure, alleging in its lawsuit that establishing a shelter at the school would violate the municipality’s zoning code.
The JCCA said Fulgenzi created a “false emergency” and accused him of having racist motivations for blocking migrants.
In an October order he wrote: “The city does not have the capacity to receive and sustain an influx of immigrants and asylum seekers.”
The orders prohibit “individuals, companies, entities or municipalities” from entering into contracts to transport immigrants or house them in the city without the “express written permission of the city supervisor.”
The JCCA said Fulgenzi created a “false emergency” and accused him of having racist motivations for blocking migrants.
The organization pointed to a post shared on Fulgenzi’s personal Facebook account where he shared an image that read: “European Christians built this nation…they didn’t come to screw around, collect welfare, wage jihad, and replace the American Constitution with Law of Sharia.’
DailyMail.com has contacted Fulgenzi for comment.