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New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Thursday that the city is suing charter bus companies, which have brought migrants from Texas, for over $700 million — an amount the city argues the companies should have already paid.
The lawsuit is aimed at 17 companies which have transported at least 33,600 people to NYC, asking for the cash to cover the costs the city has incurred in providing emergency shelter for new arrivals.
In October, it was estimated each migrant was costing the city around $390 per day, and the lawsuit estimates the bill has so far cost around $708 million.
“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 press release.
“Today, we are taking legal action against 17 companies that have taken part in Texas Governor Abbott’s scheme to transport tens of thousands of migrants to New York City in an attempt to overwhelm our social services system."
Bus companies accused of breaking New York law
Adams accused the bus companies of breaking New York state law by not paying for the care their passengers received on arrival. The suit alleges that the companies knowingly implemented Abbott's policies "without any regard" for those being put on their buses.
New York's social services law states that “[a]ny person who knowingly brings, or causes to be brought, a needy person from out of state into this state for the purpose of making him a public charge…shall be obligated to convey such person out of state or support him at his own expense.”
The suit goes on to allege that the companies in question have earned "millions of dollars in revenue" from Texas to bus migrants to NYC, as well as other so-called sanctuary cities, such as Chicago and Philadelphia.
Adams argued that that revenue should be used to pay for the shelter, food and healthcare given to the bus passengers who ended up in NYC's care.
“Governor Abbott continues to use human beings as political pawns, and it’s about time that the companies facilitating his actions take responsibility for their role in this ongoing crisis,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul added in the announcement.
“If they are getting paid to break the law by transporting people in need of public assistance into our state, they should be on the hook for the cost of sheltering those individuals — not just passing that expense along to hard-working New Yorkers. I’m proud to support the mayor’s lawsuit.”
NYC facing an ongoing migrant crisis
New York has welcomed some 164,000 migrants since April 2022, with thousands still requiring care from the city in terms of shelter, food and healthcare.
Most have arrived from the southwest border, where Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been taking matters into his own hands, accusing the Biden Administration of failing to act. Border patrol officers continue to be overwhelmed by the thousands arriving each day.
The lawsuit announced Thursday comes a week after Mayor Adams announced an executive order, requiring bus companies to provide at least 32 hours notice about arrivals. Some companies have tried to work around this by dropping passengers off at train stations for New York in New Jersey instead.
Abbott said Texas had so far bussed over 95,000 people to Democrat-run cities. On Thursday, he continued to say the state would build new barriers and "repel" illegal crossings.