In a bold legal maneuver, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is targeting 17 Texas charter bus and transportation companies with a hefty lawsuit to the tune of $708 million. The suit is an effort to claw back city money shelled out for emergency shelter and services for migrants, totaling over 33,600 individuals, ferried from Texas over the last 20 months.
Adams has branded the mass transport as a "reckless political ploy" orchestrated by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, according to Fox San Antonio. The city, under the New York Social Services Law, maintains that companies engaging in the intentional transportation of individuals in need of shelter to NYC as part of a bad faith scheme are responsible for those costs.
The lawsuit, steered by the high-powered law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, zeros in on section 149 of the New York Social Services Law. This clause clearly states any party knowingly bringing individuals into the state with the intention of them becoming a public charge must foot the bill for associated expenses. The defendants are accused of enacting Governor Abbott's plan, cashing in on conduct laced with ill intent.
"We cannot bear the costs alone, and we are suing to recoup the $700 million spent caring for migrants sent here in the lasts two years," Adams stated, as reported by Fox San Antonio. Governor Kathy Hochul has thrown her backing behind the lawsuit, emphasizing her disdain for using migrants as pawns in political games and urging that companies be held accountable for the consequences of their facilitation.
The Adams administration is no stranger to action. Just last week, Mayor Adams issued Executive Order 538, which mandated more stringent coordination among charter bus companies to secure migrant safety and welfare in New York City. Now, the lawsuit broadens these efforts to demand accountability from those responsible. Amidst its drive to support migrants, the city also plans a 20% cut in spending related to the migrant crisis in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2024 Preliminary Budget.
This lawsuit is not just a means of financial recovery for New York City, but also a stern warning to entities entwined in Governor Abbott's activities. It underscores an expectation that these companies must uphold their legal obligation to support the asylum seekers in transit to their destinations.
