Politics | Adams admin files suit claiming bus companies…

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Adams admin files suit claiming bus companies owe NYC $708M for bringing
migrants to city from Texas

Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News

Dozens of migrant families are seen arriving from Texas at the Port Authority Bus Terminal on Sept. 6, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News)

By Chris Sommerfeldt | csommerfeldt@nydailynews.com | New York Daily News

PUBLISHED: January 4, 2024 at 3:40 p.m. | UPDATED: January 4, 2024 at 6:06 p.m.

Mayor Adams’ administration filed a lawsuit Thursday charging that 17 charter bus companies owe
New York City at least $708 million for dropping off tens of thousands of migrants in the five
boroughs as part of a controversial program launched by Texas’ Republican governor.

The suit submitted in Manhattan Supreme Court, alleges that the mostly Texas-based companies
,

violated New York’s Social Services Law by contracting with Gov. Greg Abbott’s administration to bus
more than 33,600 migrants from the Lone Star State to the Big Apple with little or no coordination
with city officials since 2022.

The state law holds that anyone who “knowingly” brings a person to New York “for the purpose of
making him a public charge” is responsible to “support him at his own expense.” Thereby, the suit
argues the bus operators should be on the hook to reimburse the city for the $708 million it has so far
spent on providing shelter, food, health care and other services for the thousands of migrants they
transported to New York City.

“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, a centrist Democrat, said in a video message from
City Hall. “Today’s lawsuit should serve as a warning to all those who break the law in this way.”

Mayor Eric Adams. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News)

The bus operators named as defendants could not be immediately reached for comment.

Ina statement issued by his office, Abbott blasted the new lawsuit as “baseless” and said Adams’
administration “deserves to be sanctioned” by a court for filing it.

“It’sclear 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,” the
governor’s statement 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.”

Abbott, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump , started sending migrants to New
York and other liberal cities at the outset of the asylum seeker crisis in 2022 in a bid to highlight what
he considers Democrats’ overly lax immigration policies.

Adams and other Democrats have blasted Abbott for the move, saying he’s putting migrants’ lives at
risk and using them as political pawns. Other states, including Democrat-run ones like Colorado have ,

also sent migrants to New York, but Adams says the Abbott operation is different because Texas
refuses to give city officials any heads up on buses arriving.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a news conference on June, 17, 2023. (AP Photo/David Erickson, File)

Thursday’s lawsuit was filed on the Adams administration’s behalf by Steve Banks , a former
commissioner of the city Department of Social Services.

Banks, who brought the suit pro bono in his capacity as a special counsel at the Paul, Weiss law firm, is
also fighting the Adams administration in Manhattan Supreme Court over its attempt to suspend the
city’s right-to-shelter mandate . In that case, Banks is helping the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition
for the Homeless argue against the Adams administration’s claim that the city should be absolved of
its right-to-shelter requirements amid the migrant crisis.

Kayla Mamelak, a spokeswoman for Adams, said there’s no conflict in Banks representing the
administration in one migrant crisis-related case and fighting it in another. “It’s two completely
unrelated cases,” she said.

The legal action against the bus companies comes as Adams is fighting on multiple fronts to stop
Abbott from continuing his migrant busing program.

Last week, the mayor issued an executive order that requires bus companies to give his administration
at least 32 hours notice before they drop off migrants in the city.

The order also set a strict time window for when buses can drop off migrants — only between 8:30
a.m. and noon on weekdays. Any bus companies that violate the order can be fined or have their
vehicles impounded under the order.

Some bus companies have found a workaround from Adams’ order by dropping off migrants in New
Jersey, where they’re shepherded onto city-bound trains.

On Tuesday, Adams said he hopes New Jersey municipalities close to New York City follow his lead on
setting strict rules around when bus companies can do migrant drop-offs.

“Everyone that has that train line that leads into the city, everyone in the municipalities around us —
they should do the same [executive order],” he told reporters.

According to the latest data from City Hall, the Adams administration has spent around $3.5 billion on
sheltering and providing services for the tens of thousands of mostly Latin American migrants who
have arrived since spring 2022. Nearly 70,000 migrants remain in city shelters.

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