NYC sues bus companies carrying migrants to city under Texas busing program

The Adams administration filed a lawsuit Thursday against 17 bus companies for allegedly transporting tens of thousands of migrants to New York City, claiming the companies were carrying out Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s “evil intention” of shifting the costs of the migrants’ care to sanctuary cities under a state-funded transport program he launched in 2022.

The city is seeking to recoup $708 million in migrant costs incurred over the last two years.

The lawsuit is based on a New York state social services law that states “[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.” A public charge is someone deemed to be likely to primarily rely on government benefits and, in immigration cases, may be denied lawful entry into the country or legal residence on that basis.

The complaint, filed in state Supreme Court, represents a new front in Mayor Eric Adams’ attempt to control the flow of new arrivals coming from Texas after crossing the United States’ southern border. Since April 2022, Texas has covered bus fares for migrants bound for New York City as well as other cities led by Democratic mayors, including Chicago, Washington, D.C., Denver, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

Last month, the effort expanded to planes.

“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. “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.”

Most of the companies either did not immediately respond to requests for comment or could not be reached for comment Thursday. Representatives for two of the companies declined to comment, while a man who identified himself as the general manager of a third, Lily's Bus Lines, said Gothamist's outreach was the first he had heard of the lawsuit. One of his company's buses was in NYC on Wednesday night, he added.

In a statement late Thursday afternoon, Abbott called the lawsuit “baseless” and accused Adams of knowing “nothing” about constitutional law and rights.

“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,” the governor said. “As such, they have the constitutional authority to travel across the country that Mayor Adams is interfering with.”

Adams last week issued an executive order restricting when and where buses carrying migrants into the city can drop them off, and requiring 32 hours of advance notice of bus arrivals. But some bus operators have appeared to circumvent the restrictions by leaving migrants at transit hubs in New Jersey — from where many of the migrants have then taken trains into the city.

The court filing accuses the bus companies of evading the order.

Earlier this week, Adams called on surrounding jurisdictions to implement similar orders to stem the flow of the buses and alleged Abbott has sought to cause disruption for political gain. The mayor said Thursday he had spoken with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont about the situation.

“We got to continue to reach out to our colleagues in the region to say that everyone should put in place a similar EO [executive order] to send a loud message that these bus operators and bus companies should not be participating in Governor Abbott’s fiasco,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference.

Neither Murphy nor Lamont have publicly indicated whether they would take such action.

Murphy has said some families picked up dozens of migrants who’d been dropped off at New Jersey train stations, but acknowledged most of the new arrivals were put on trains to NYC.

“New York City is where the federal resources are located and directed for these migrants,” he said this week. “And that is a fact.”

Lamont’s office confirmed he and Adams spoke Wednesday, adding the governor agrees with Adams and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul that the federal government should do more to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and provide more funding for the immigration system and local communities hosting migrants.

On Thursday, Hochul told reporters she would support northern New Jersey communities following NYC’s lead and implementing their own restrictions on migrant buses.

“There's an opportunity for localities to have a similar executive order in place that Mayor Adams put in place,” she said. “That may need to be more widespread. I'd support that."

The city is not alone in pursuing litigation over Abbott’s migrant policies. On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department sued Texas over a law Abbott signed last month that allows police in the state to arrest migrants entering the U.S. without authorization.

According to city officials, the 17 companies have transported at least 33,600 migrants to the city, as well as 28,000 to Chicago, 12,500 to D.C., and thousands more to other cities — earning millions of dollars from Texas in the process. The lawsuit alleges the defendants received roughly $1,650 per passenger, or over five times more than the $291 cost of a single one-way ticket.

Representing the administration in the case is Steve Banks, the city’s former social services commissioner who now works at the private law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, according to the court papers. He is also part of a legal team opposing Adams’ efforts to overhaul the city’s right-to-shelter rules.

Andrew Giambrone, Jon Campbell and Nancy Solomon contributed reporting. This story has been updated with new information.