NEW YORK, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- New York City Mayor Eric Adams Thursday announced that the city has filed a lawsuit against 17 charter bus and transportation companies that have transported tens of thousands of migrants from Texas to the city since early 2022.
New York City filed the lawsuit in the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan arguing that the charter bus companies violated New York's Social Services Law by bringing or causing to be brought, a needy person from out of state into this state to make him a public charge.
The city aims to recoup around 708 million U.S. dollars spent in providing emergency shelter and services to at least 33,600 migrants in the last 20 months as well as those who are transported from Texas to the city in the future.
"Today, we are taking legal action against 17 companies that have taken part in Texas Governor Abbott's scheme to transport tens of thousands of migrants to New York City in an attempt to overwhelm our social services system," said Adams in a statement. "Today's lawsuit should serve as a warning to all those who break the law in this way."
New York City has been strained by the influx of migrants with the local sheltering system and finance overwhelmed.
Since April 2022, New York City has allocated around 3.5 billion U.S. dollars to provide food, shelter, and more to more than 164,000 asylum seekers.
At the end of 2023, New York City issued restrictions on the arrival of buses loaded with migrants amid a new wave of arrivals. ■
