Abbott denounces Adams’s lawsuit targeting bus companies moving migrants as ‘baseless’

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Texas) responded Thursday to a lawsuit filed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams over the Lone Star State’s migrant transportation program, calling it “baseless.”

“It’s clear that Mayor Adams knows nothing about the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, or about the constitutional right to travel that has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Abbott wrote in a statement.

His comments come after Adams announced the lawsuit against 17 charter companies, alleging they broke state law by transporting buses and planes of asylum-seekers from Texas to the city on Abbott’s order. The suit seeks more than $700 million to cover the costs of caring for the migrants.

Abbott denounced the suit, claiming it is a violation of the Constitution.

“Every migrant bussed or flown to New York City did so voluntarily, after having been authorized by the Biden administration to remain in the United States,” he said. “As such, they have constitutional authority to travel across the country that Mayor Adams is interfering with.”

“If the Mayor persists in this lawsuit, he may be held legally accountable for his violations,” the governor added.

Texas has sent more than 90,000 migrants to cities all over the country since April 2022 via buses and planes as part of Operation Lone Star, Abbott’s office said this week, specifically targeting so-called sanctuary cities with more liberal migrant policies.

That figure includes more than 33,000 migrants to New York City, with Chicago, Denver and Washington, D.C., also receiving thousands of migrants, often without prior warning.

“New York City has and will always do our part to manage this humanitarian crisis, but we cannot bear the costs of reckless political ploys from the state of Texas alone,” Adams said in a statement Thursday. 

Last week, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D), Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) and Adams condemned the migrant transportation program at a joint press conference.

“We cannot allow buses with people needing our help to arrive without warning at any hour of day and night,” Adams said last week. “This not only prevents us from providing assistance in an orderly way, it puts those who have already suffered so much in danger.”

Chicago and New York City also announced increased restrictions on buses unloading in their cities last week, threatening fines for transportation companies that drop off migrants.

“The lack of care that has been on display for the last year and a half has created an incredible amount of chaos,” Johnson said.