'Sanctuary' City New York Sues Texas Charter Bus Companies For $700 Million Over Migrant Dropoffs
New York City is suing more than a dozen charter bus and transportation companies involved in busing migrants to the self-proclaimed 'sanctuary' for migrants that now wants nothing to do with them.
"New York City has and will always do our part to manage this humanitarian crisis, but we cannot bear the costs of reckless political ploys from the state of Texas alone," said NYC Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday. "Today, we are taking legal action against 17 companies that have taken part in Texas Governor Abbott’s scheme to transport tens of thousands of migrants to New York City in an attempt to overwhelm our social services system."
According to the lawsuit, the companies have violated New York state law by failing to pay for the cost of caring for migrants, which the city says amounts to $708 million in damages for what's already been spent caring for them. The filing cites New York law that requires anyone who brings a "needy person" from out of state for the purposes of making them the state's problem, either take them out of the state or support them.
"Governor Abbott’s continued use of migrants as political pawns is not only chaotic and inhumane but makes clear he puts politics over people. Today’s lawsuit should serve as a warning to all those who break the law in this way," said Adams, who's been at war with the Texas governor for sending illegal immigrants to the sanctuary city.
Meanwhile, staggering footage from Wednesday has shown hundreds of migrants - mostly young men - lining up around a block for shelter in Manhattan.
According to Adams in a statement to Fox5, "We're getting close to anywhere from 2,500 to peaking at 4,000 a week."
"We were not just saying we're out of room as a soundbite," he continued, citing the more than 161,000 migrants who have arrived in the Big Apple since the spring of 2022.
"We're out of room, literally" he said. "People are going to be eventually sleeping on the streets."
Adams also recently announced an executive order which requires charter buses to provide at least 32 hours' notice before they arrive in NYC, as well as a requirement to arrive between 8:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. between Monday and Friday - and to drop off at one specific spot, Fox News reports.
Jersey Loophole...
But buses have appeared to be dodging that requirement by dropping off migrants at train stations in neighboring New Jersey, from where they can travel on a train directly into New York City. Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli on Sunday accused the migrant buses of bypassing New York City's executive order through a "loophole."
Adams was asked about the change in strategy on Thursday, and said that the city will continue to enforce the executive order and that he had spoken to the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams signed an order to restrict buses from Texas.
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 4, 2024
So now Texas is dropping the illegals off in New Jersey right next to a train that goes straight to New York City.
pic.twitter.com/K7geVaXfxX
Adams isn't havin' it...
"And we're going to continue to reach out to our colleagues in the region to say that everyone should put in place a similar EO to send a loud message that these bus operators and bus companies should not be participating in Governor Abbott's…fiasco of really trying to destabilize these cities," he said, before taking another shot at Abbott over the busing.
"What he is doing is just being dogmatic about destabilizing these cities. And we must meet his challenge," he continued.
New York Gov. Kathy Huchul also chimed in, saying that the bus companies are responsible "for their role in this ongoing crisis."
"If they are getting paid to break the law by transporting people in need of public assistance into our state, they should be on the hook for the cost of sheltering those individuals — not just passing that expense along to hard-working New Yorkers. I’m proud to support the mayor’s lawsuit."