NEW YORK — In a stunning and unexpected move to stop Texas Gov. Greg Abbott from shipping busloads of asylum seekers to New York City, Mayor Eric Adams has filed a lawsuit against 17 charter bus companies used by the Lone Star State.
He wants the bus companies to reimburse the city for the hundreds of millions of dollars it’s cost to shelter them.
Just call it the Empire State strikes back, with a bold counter punch to Abbott.
“New York City has and will always do our part to manage this humanitarian crisis, but we cannot bear the cost of reckless political ploys from the state of Texas, alone,” Adams said.
The mayor sued the bus companies who, since the spring of 2022, have been used by Abbott to ship asylum seekers to New York, with officials showing them maps, giving them bar-coded bracelets with their destinations clearly marked, and then checked by drivers to make sure they land in the city.
The suit seeks $708 million to compensate the city for the cost of shelter, food and health care.
“These companies have violated state law by not paying the cost of caring for these migrants,” Adams said.
The suit charges the companies with “bad faith” conduct and violating New York social service law by dumping the asylum seekers in New York City without providing a means of support.
“Gov. Abbott’s continued use of migrants as political pawns is not only chaotic and inhumane, but makes clear he puts politics over people,” Adams said.
The last straw for the mayor was apparently Abbott’s decision to send buses to New Jersey train stations connecting to New York City to thwart an executive order limiting the days and and hours busloads of asylum seekers could arrive here.
Adams is also seeking to build a regional coalition to stop Abbott.
“I communicated with the governor of New Jersey last night. We also spoke with the governor of Connecticut. We’ve got to continue to reach out to our colleagues in the region,” Adams said.
Adams and Abbott have been engaged in an intense game of Texas Hold ‘Em poker over the asylum seeker crisis. It remains to be seen if the suit will force Abbott to throw in his chips.
