Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams is suing several bus companies used by the state of Texas to send migrants to his sanctuary city, he announced Thursday.
Adams signed an executive order on Dec. 27 to restrict the arrival of migrant buses, which includes requiring at least a 32-hour notice of their arrivals. The city is now suing 17 bus companies for transporting migrants to the Big Apple, saying that they’re skirting state law.
“We’ll see you in court,” Adams said in a tweet Thursday, where he shared a video statement.
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“We cannot bear the cost of reckless political ploys from the state of Texas alone. Today, our administration filed a lawsuit 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,” Adams said in the video.
The city has spent an estimated $3.5 billion to shelter and care for the 164,500 migrants who have arrived between April 2022 and December, according to a statement from Adams’ office. Abbott’s buses have brought roughly 33,000 migrants.
Adams’ administration plans to cut the city budget allocated to address the migrant crisis by 20% if they don’t receive “significant or timely state and federal assistance,” the mayor’s office said in a statement. He has also already announced a 5% budget cut across all city services.
“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 bused here for the last two years by the state of Texas. Governor Abbott’s continued use of migrants as political pawns is not only chaotic and inhumane, but makes clear he puts politics over people,” Adams said.
A spokesperson for Abbott didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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