New York City said Thursday that it is suing 17 bus companies for their part in transporting tens of thousands of illegal immigrants to the Big Apple over the past year and a half.
Democratic Mayor Eric Adams announced the lawsuit, charging that the bus companies have “taken part in Texas Governor [Greg] Abbott’s scheme” to send illegal immigrants to cities across the U.S. as the border crisis worsens under President Joe Biden. The city is seeking $708 million to help it deal with the costs of housing and feeding illegal immigrants.
“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, ABC News reported. “Today, we are taking legal action against 17 companies that have taken part in Texas Governor [Greg] Abbott’s scheme to transport tens of thousands of migrants to New York City in an attempt to overwhelm our social services system.”
“These companies have violated state law by not paying the cost of caring for these migrants, and that’s why we are suing to recoup approximately $700 million already spent to care for migrants sent here in the last two years by Texas,” the mayor added.
The lawsuit names transportation companies 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.
The suit alleges that the companies acted in “bad faith” or with “evil intent” because they received far more for transporting the illegal immigrants than a one-way ticket from Texas to New York would cost.
“According to public reporting based on data obtained under the Texas Public Information Act, the Defendants receive roughly $1,650 per person on chartered buses compared to $291 for a single one-way ticket,” the lawsuit claims.
Abbott began busing illegal immigrants to New York City in August of 2022 after Adams boasted that the Big Apple is a “sanctuary city.”
“Adams talked the talk about being a sanctuary city — welcoming illegal immigrants into the Big Apple with warm hospitality,” Abbott wrote in an op-ed for the New York Post in August of 2022. “Talk is cheap. When pressed into fulfilling such ill-considered policies, he wants to condemn anyone who is pressing him to walk the walk.”
The lawsuit is Adams’ latest attempt to get more help for the city as it struggles to handle the influx of illegal immigrants. At the end of last month, Adams issued an executive order seeking to curb the busloads of migrants that enter the city. Adams’ executive order limits when migrant buses can come into the city and requires bus drivers who know they are transporting illegal immigrants to give the city a 32-hour notice of their arrival.
The bus drivers reportedly found a way to work around Adams’ executive order, however. According to New Jersey officials, bus drivers are now dropping migrants off at train stations throughout New Jersey, where the illegal immigrants then board a train heading into NYC, The Hill reported.
Adams has repeatedly asked the Biden administration for federal help in dealing with the illegal immigrants coming into the city, but he has received little response. Since 2022, more than 130,000 illegal immigrants have made their way to New York. Officials project that the influx will cost the city $12 billion through fiscal year 2025.
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