New York is suing bus companies that transported migrants for more than US$700 million

(CNN) –– New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Thursday that the city has filed a lawsuit against 17 bus companies that provided transportation to migrants from Texas to New York. The lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court, seeks $708 million in damages to cover care provided to at least 33,600 asylum seekers who arrived in the city through 2022.

Adams’ latest legal action to stem the flow of asylum seekers into New York seeks to address the financial burden placed on the city as a result of the growing immigration crisis.

The lawsuit, filed by New York City Social Services Commissioner Molly Vaso Park, targets 17 charter bus companies that acted in “bad faith” by intentionally “shifting the cost of treatment” to people “with bad intent.” Migrants to that state.

According to the lawsuit, from April 2022 to December 29, 2023, the bus companies transported people even knowing they would “likely seek shelter and emergency services in New York City, as they in fact did.”

The lawsuit cites Section 149 of the New York Social Services Law, which states that any person “who knowingly brings into this state any indigent person from out of state or for the purpose of making a public charge” to “remove that person from the state or to his own.” will be forced to maintain it at cost”.

“These companies violated state law by paying for the care of these migrants, and that’s why we’re suing to recover the $700 million already spent to care for the migrants sent here,” Adams said in a statement Thursday. Two years for Texas.

The lawsuit claims the bus companies “extorted millions of dollars in revenue from Texas” to help implement Gov. Greg Abbott’s 2022 plan to relieve migrants from their congested border cities in sanctuary cities.

According to a December 2023 press release, Texas admitted to transporting more than 33,600 migrants by bus to New York City since August 2022.

In a statement sent to CNN this Thursday, Abbott said: “This lawsuit is baseless and deserves to be dismissed. It is clear that Mayor Adams knows nothing about the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, or the constitutional right to travel recognized. The United States Supreme Court by.

And then he added that “every immigrant transported by bus or plane to New York City did so voluntarily after being authorized by the Biden Administration to remain in the United States. As such, they have the constitutional authority to travel across the country that Mayor Adams is interfering with.” . “If the mayor persists in this lawsuit, he may be legally liable for his violations.”

CNN reached out to the offices of all 17 bus companies for a response to the lawsuit.