Big Lawsuit Alert: NYC Sues SE Texas Company for $700M Over Migrant Busing
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has escalated the ongoing feud with Texas Governor Greg Abbott by filing a lawsuit against 17 transportation companies. The mayor alleges that these companies participated in Governor Abbott’s plan to send over 30,000 migrants to New York City, intending to make the city financially responsible for their care. The legal action seeks more than $700 million in damages, representing the estimated cost of caring for and sheltering the migrants.
The lawsuit, filed in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan, argues that deliberately transporting migrants to New York with the intention of shifting the financial burden violates state law. Mayor Adams contends that the move was driven by an “evil intention” to offload the costs onto New York City.
In response, Governor Abbott dismissed the lawsuit, labeling it as baseless and deserving of sanctions. He asserted that Mayor Adams lacks an understanding of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the constitutional right to travel, citing that the migrants traveled voluntarily and were authorized by the Biden administration to remain in the United States.
The transportation companies named in the lawsuit include Buckeye Coach LLC, based in Ohio, and Classic Elegance Coaches, based in El Paso, Texas. While the owner of Buckeye had no immediate comment, a representative of Classic Elegance Coaches directed inquiries to the state of Texas.
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In a video accompanying the lawsuit, Mayor Adams emphasized that New York City cannot bear the financial costs of Texas’s alleged political maneuvers alone. The city has been grappling with the arrival of over 160,000 migrants, and a unique consent decree mandates providing shelter to anyone who requests it.
Mayor Adams, who estimates a $12 billion cost over three years for sheltering migrants, has recently adopted a more aggressive legal strategy. This includes imposing controls on charter buses transporting migrants, restricting hours and locations for drop-offs. The unpredictable drop-offs in New Jersey resulting from these controls are cited in the lawsuit as evidence of the bus companies’ “bad faith.”
The legal action has the backing of New York Governor Kathy Hochul, whose budget has also been strained by the expenses associated with sheltering migrants. Governor Hochul accused Governor Abbott of using human beings as political pawns.
The lawsuit relies on Section 149 of New York’s social services law, arguing that bringing a “needy person” into the state for the purpose of making them a public charge violates the law. Legal experts note that this law has not been enforced since the 1940s, when the Supreme Court declared such laws unconstitutional due to the right to travel. However, the city is making a novel argument based on this law, and its applicability to noncitizens is uncertain.
Filed by the prominent law firm Paul, Weiss, on behalf of New York City, the lawsuit is expected to intensify the ongoing clash between New York and Texas over the handling and costs associated with migrant arrivals.
