New York sues companies that have transported migrants for US$708 million

The Mayor’s Administration NYEric Adams, filed a lawsuit this Thursday against 17 charter bus companies that for nearly two years have transported migrants from Texas to the city, and demands US$708 million to cover the costs of his care.

The legal action arises after yesterday, the mayor warned that they were evaluating all possibilities to confront the action of the bus companies, which are taking migrants to the neighboring state of New Jersey so that from there they can travel to Snowy York, and thus evading an executive order from Adams that imposes precise times and days for charter trips for migrants.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has sent about 33,600 migrants to New York in the last 20 months without the companies transporting them paying the cost of that service, Adams said in a statement.

“Today, our Administration filed suit against 17 companies that participated in Governor Abbott’s plan to transport tens of thousands of immigrants into the city in an attempt to overwhelm our social services system.”he indicated in a video that accompanies the text.

The Democratic mayor also reiterated that the city can no longer “bear the costs of the reckless political stratagems of the state of Texas.”

New York’s lawsuit seeks to recover the money invested so far in shelter, meals and education for the children and other assistance provided to them, as well as the money the city will spend on the more than 65,000 immigrants who are in its care and the investment it will make in others transported from Texas in the future as part of Abbott’s plan.

Adams explained that the transportation companies are violating the state Social Services Law, which states that companies that intentionally transport people who need shelter and services into the city as part of a bad faith plan must pay those costs.

“The law is clear: by participating in this reckless scheme, these bus companies assume responsibility for those costs”said the director of the city’s Legal Department, Lisa Zornberg.

The mayor has warned on several occasions that the arrival of more than 160,000 immigrants since April 2022, of which 68,000 are under city care, has created a humanitarian and fiscal crisis that will lead to US $12,000 million.

The continuous flow of immigrants, both sent by Texas and arriving on their own from other states, led the city to rent hotels to use as shelters, to erect tents, to adopt measures such as limiting the time in shelters (both to singles and families with children) and finally to establish specific days and times for the arrival of the buses.

In the spring of 2022, Abbott began sending buses with immigrants to cities with Democratic mayors, first Washington and then to New York, to, according to the Republican, distribute the immigration burden that his state faces due to the policies of the President’s Administration. Joe Biden.

It has also sent immigrants to Boston (Massachusetts), Denver (Colorado), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Los Angeles (California).

The governor of New York, also a Democrat, Kathy Hochul, indicated for her part that “It is time for the companies that facilitate their actions to take responsibility for their role in this ongoing crisis”making it clear that he supports the mayor’s initiative.