New York City mayor sues Texas bus companies for transporting “migrants” to NYC

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced a lawsuit against more than a dozen charter bus and transportation companies involved in busing migrants to New York City, seeking hundreds of millions of dollars for the care of migrants in the self-described "sanctuary" city.

"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," Adams said in a statement . "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."

The lawsuit argues that the companies have violated New York state law by not paying for the cost of caring for migrants, and seeks $708 million in damages that it has already spent to care for them. It cites New York law that requires anyone who brings a "needy person" from out of state for the purposes of making them a public charge to 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," Adams said.

Adams, who has been locked in a war of words with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over Abbott’s transportation of migrants to "sanctuary cities" since last year, recently announced an executive order requiring charter buses transporting migrants to provide 32 hours' notice in advance of their arrival in New York City. 

The order also requires buses to arrive between 8:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. between Monday and Friday and drop off at one particular spot.

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 NYC.  Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli on Sunday accused the migrant buses of bypassing New York City's executive order through a "loophole."

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