New York City mayor Eric Adams said Thursday the city will pursue legal action against 17 bus and transportation companies that have carried illegal immigrants into the city.
The buses have been sent to the sanctuary city by Texas governor Greg Abbott, who has sent migrant to blue cities across the country in an effort to share the burden of the border crisis with states up north. The Lone Star State sent more than 33,600 illegal immigrants to the city between August 2022 and December 29, 2023, the governor said last month.
The lawsuit alleges the companies have violated section 149 of the New York Social Services Law, which requires “[a]ny person who knowingly brings, or causes to be brought a needy person from out of state into this state for the purpose of making him a public charge … shall be obligated to convey such person out of state or support him at his own expense.”
Adams said the lawsuit is looking to “recoup approximately $700 million already spent to care for migrants sent here in the last two years by Texas.”
“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,” the mayor 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 claims the transportation companies have “earned millions of dollars in revenues from Texas for implementing the Texas Governor’s plan.” Those companies include: Buckeye Coach, Carduan Tours, Classic Elegance Coaches, Coastal Crew Change Company, Ejecutivo Enterprises, El Paso United Charters, Garcia and Garcia Enterprises, JY Charter Bus, Lily’s Bus Lines, Mayo Tours, Norteno Express, Roadrunner Charters, Southwest Crew Change Company, Transportes Regiomontanos, VLP Charter, Windstar Lines and Wynne Transportation.
New York governor Kathy Hochul voiced support for the lawsuit in a statement on Thursday.
“Governor Abbott continues to use human beings as political pawns, and it’s about time that the companies facilitating his actions take responsibility for their role in this ongoing crisis,” Hochul said. “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.”
The lawsuit comes after Adams issued an executive order late last month requiring bus operators to give at least 32 hours of notice ahead of the arrival of migrant buses. The order also restricted drop-offs to certain times of day.
However, in order to circumvent the new order, buses reportedly began dropping off migrants in New Jersey and instructing them to take public transit into New York City.