New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has sent a letter to nearly two dozen bus companies asking them to provide 32 hours of notice and passenger information about buses transporting migrants to New York City who are being dropped off in the Garden State.
This is how bus operators carrying migrants at the behest of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott can avoid consequences of Mayor Eric Adams' executive order that is restricting bus operations in the city and requiring advanced notice.
"We communicated with the governor last week. He has shared our outrage on the behavior of the bus companies and Gov. Abbott," Adams said.
What You Need To Know
- Bus companies have been dropping migrants off in New Jersey to avoid a city executive order detailing when and where buses can arrive in the five boroughs
- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy sent a letter to bus companies asking for advanced notice and passenger information when transporting migrants to New York
- Mayor Eric Adams is considering adding metal detectors and cameras at migrant facilities
Many of the bus companies cited in Murphy's letter are the same companies the city is suing for violating a 19th century law that requires anyone who transports a "needy person" to New York to cover their expenses.
"When you deal with extreme cases like this kind of conduct, New York state law expressly commits the commissioner of social services to sue those responsible for that bad faith plan to overwhelm our social services system to pay costs. That's what we're seeking to do," City Hall Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg said at the mayor's weekly press conference with reporters Monday.
On Fox News Sunday, Abbott trashed the city's lawsuit as baseless.
"They have the legal right to travel wherever they want in the United States and the lawsuit by the mayor violates the United States Constitution in several respects, and the mayor is going to lose and lose badly," Abbott said.
Norman Siegel, a civil rights attorney, thinks the lawsuit gives the city an opportunity to learn more about Texas' bus operations — if it survives a likely motion to dismiss.
"This will be very beneficial because it will be the first time we have people under oath being questioned about how did this happen. What role did the governor of Texas and the Texas government play in getting these bus companies to do it?" Siegel said.
Meanwhile, Adams told reporters that he is considering the installation of metal detectors and cameras at migrant facilities.
This comes after the killing of a man who was stabbed with a kitchen knife on Randall's Island Saturday.
"The overwhelming number of migrant asylum seekers, they come here to be a part of this great American experience, and there's a numerical small number who would do something violent like that, and we're going to carry out the full extent of law enforcement to bring them to justice," Adams said.