In a bold legal move, New York City launched a lawsuit on Thursday against 17 bus companies, accusing them of unlawfully ferrying over 33,000 migrants from Texas to the city. This alleged operation, purportedly orchestrated by Texas’ Republican governor to expel illegal border crossers, has ignited a legal firestorm.
The city, seeking a staggering $708 million, argues that this sum corresponds to the expenses it incurred over the past two years in providing shelter and services to the migrants. The lawsuit, filed in a Manhattan court, does not target the state of Texas directly but zeroes in on the charter bus companies that executed the controversial transportation contracts.
These companies, primarily based in Texas, find themselves accused of breaching a 19th-century New York law. This law mandates that anyone transporting a person likely to seek government assistance from another state to New York must cover their expenses. According to the city, these companies knowingly transported migrants who would require shelter and services, all while raking in millions of dollars.
The lawsuit extends beyond New York’s borders, alleging that these companies transported tens of thousands more migrants to other U.S. cities, including Chicago and Washington, D.C. The companies also stand accused of flouting an order from New York City Mayor Eric Adams, which requires bus operators to notify the city when carrying 10 or more passengers likely to seek emergency shelter.
This legal clash has its roots in the political maneuvering of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who, in 2022, initiated the transportation of migrants to New York and other Democrat-led cities in response to surging border crossings. Abbott’s measures, a pointed critique of President Joe Biden’s handling of the border situation, have intensified the already heated debate over immigration policies.
The Biden administration entered the legal fray by filing a lawsuit on Wednesday, challenging a new Texas law that grants state officials broad powers to apprehend, prosecute, and deport migrants. Responding to New York City’s lawsuit, Abbott deemed it baseless, asserting that migrants possess a constitutional right to travel across the country and that each migrant transported to New York did so voluntarily, authorized by the Biden Administration.
As legal battles unfold, the clash between state and city governments underscores the complex and contentious nature of the immigration debate in the United States.
