Texas has secured yet another victory in a border-related lawsuit, as the New York State Supreme Court ruled in their favor on Tuesday. This comes after a federal district court had previously ruled in favor of Texas in a border wall case, and the Fifth Circuit had also ruled in their favor in a marine barrier case. The latest ruling concerns New York’s busing strategy related to the border.
The recent verdict saw the administration of New York City Mayor Eric Adams lose in a lawsuit it had filed against 17 Texas busing companies. The lawsuit aimed to secure $700 million from the companies to cover the expenses the city incurred while providing care for almost 33,600 illegal border crossers who were bused to the city at the time. However, the high court ruled against the city’s plea.
According to a recent exclusive report by The Center Square, Texas has been dealing with a staggering number of over 1.9 million illegal border crossers in fiscal 2023 alone. While Adams expressed his discontent with large groups of 100 arriving on buses, the state of Texas has allocated a significant amount of taxpayer money, nearly $12 billion, towards border security operations.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott was challenged by Adams for violating the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution with his busing scheme. Adams sought a preliminary injunction to halt the scheme; however, the high court dismissed his request.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Mary Rosado deemed the effort to regulate the transportation of destitute individuals across state lines as a blatant violation of the Interstate Commerce Clause. In the ruling, the judge stated that the request will not be granted because there are numerous constitutional concerns that make the merits of the claim highly questionable.
When Adams filed a lawsuit seven months ago, Abbott responded by claiming that it was “baseless” and deserved to be penalized. According to Abbott, Mayor Eric Adams is not familiar with the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the constitutional right to travel, which has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court. Abbott pointed out that every migrant who was transported to New York City did so voluntarily, with the authorization of the Biden Administration. Therefore, they have the constitutional right to travel across the country, which Mayor Adams is impeding. Abbott warned that if the Mayor continues with this lawsuit, he may face legal consequences for his actions.
According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, the mayor’s actions were unconstitutional.
According to The Center Square, a busing company has ceased the transportation of illegal border crossers from Texas to New York City as of March.
After the ruling, the mayor’s office acknowledged that the primary objective was to curb the influx of illegal immigrants entering the city. Lisa Zornberg, the mayor’s chief counsel, released a statement stating that despite the court’s decision, the lawsuit filed by the city had a positive impact. From January onwards, nearly half of the bus companies ceased transporting people to New York City as directed by Texas, and this proved to be beneficial in managing the situation.
In celebration of the ruling, Abbott praised the decision stating, “We have another victory! The New York Supreme Court has denied Mayor Adams’ efforts to prevent Texas from transporting migrants to their sanctuary city. As long as the Biden-Harris Administration fails to secure the border, Texas will continue to transport migrants to these cities.”
According to reports, critics are questioning why Adams didn’t take legal action against the Biden administration when they started transporting numerous illegal foreign nationals, including unaccompanied minors, from the border to various cities across the country. Similarly, he did not sue Arizona’s Democratic Governor, Katie Hobbs, who has transported more than 25,000 illegal foreign nationals to New York City. It’s worth noting that Adams has also not sued El Paso’s Democratic officials, who were the first to come up with a busing plan from the border to New York City before Abbott implemented his own plan. The Center Square has reported on these developments.
Starting in January, Texas has expanded its operation of transporting illegal border crossers to Chicago by air, in response to the recent policy implemented by the mayor of Chicago to block Texas buses from entering the city.
According to officials in El Paso, illegal border crossers have been primarily choosing New York City and Chicago as their destinations of choice. Denver and Philadelphia have also become popular options and were later added to the list. The city has been assisting migrants with their travel arrangements to their preferred destination cities, as explained by city officials.
According to Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott’s press secretary, there is a clear contrast between Texas’ transportation operation and the Biden administration’s approach. He claims that Texas is demonstrating transparency by being open about their actions. In contrast, President Biden has allegedly been transporting migrants around the country in large groups and under the cover of darkness.
According to a report by The Center Square, the Biden administration has unlawfully released more than 120,000 foreign nationals into Texas, and as a result, the state has had to bus them north. This happened as recently as last month.
In April 2022, Abbott initiated Operation Lone Star, his border security mission, which involved transporting illegal border crossers to self-proclaimed “sanctuary cities.” Initially, voluntary transportation was offered to those who wanted to travel to Washington, D.C. The first stop for these illegal border crossers was in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ home, who serves as the “border czar” for President Biden. To date, Texas has transported over 12,500 illegal border crossers to the nation’s capital.
In August 2022, Texas expanded its busing initiative to New York City and Chicago, sending over 46,000 and 37,000 individuals, respectively. Later in November 2022, Philadelphia was added to the list, and more than 3,400 opted for taxpayer-funded transportation to the city. The initiative continued to expand, with Denver and Los Angeles joining as destination cities in May and June of 2023. According to the latest data, over 19,200 and 1,500 individuals, respectively, have chosen to avail of the free transportation provided by the program.
