EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — The City of New York has filed a lawsuit against more than a dozen Texas charter bus and transportation companies that have taken migrants to the Big Apple on behalf of the State of Texas, officials announced on Thursday.
New York Mayor Eric Adams and Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix announced a lawsuit against 17 bus companies seeking to recoup costs incurred by providing emergency shelter and services to those migrants.
New York officials said they are trying to recoup approximately $708 million in expenses incurred in the last 20 months. They argue that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has admitted to facilitating the transport of more than 33,600 migrants to New York City without having the companies transporting those migrants pay for the cost of care, which they say violates New York’s Social Services Law.
The money for which New York City is suing would also care for migrants sent from Texas in the future.
A bus, carrying the migrants from Texas, arrives in Port Authority bus station of New York, United States on May 03, 2023. (Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“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 posted by his office on YouTube. “Governor Abbott’s continued use of migrants as political pawns is not only chaotic and inhumane but makes clear he puts politics over people. Today’s lawsuit should serve as a warning to all those who break the law in this way.”
Abbott responded to the lawsuit, calling it baseless, adding that it “deserves to be sanctioned.”
“It’s clear that Mayor Adams knows nothing about the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, or about the constitutional right to travel that has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Abbott said. “Every migrant bused or flown to New York City did so voluntarily, after having been authorized by the Biden Administration to remain in the United States. As such, they have constitutional authority to travel across the country that Mayor Adams is interfering with. If the Mayor persists in this lawsuit, he may be held legally accountable for his violations.”
At least one of the bus companies is based in El Paso, which itself is busing migrants to the interior of the country. However, none of the companies being sued are contracted by the City of El Paso, officials from the border city told KTSM.
“We are not currently transporting to NYC,” an El Paso city spokeswoman said. “And I got confirmation that we are not contracted with any of the bus companies listed in the lawsuit.”
According to the lawsuit, the bus companies being sued are Buckeye Coach; Carduan Tours Classic; Elegance Coaches; Coastal Crew Change Company; Ejecutivo Enterprises Inc.; El Paso United Charters; Garcia and Garcia Enterprises Inc. (d.b.a. Francisco Tours); JY Charter Bus Inc.; Lily’s Bus Lines Inc.; Mayo Tours, Inc.; Norteño Express; Roadrunner Charters Inc.; Southwest Crew Change Company; Transportes Regiomontanos Inc. (d.b.a. Autobuses Regiomontanos); VLP Charter; Windstar Lines Inc.; and Wynne Transportation.
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