New York City may fight Texas in court over the Lone Star State’s policy of sending migrants to the Big Apple, Mayor Adams said Sunday.
“Our legal team is looking at legal challenges we could do with Texas,” Adams said Sunday on “CBS New York.” “We believe there are some options we have, because when you involuntarily place someone on a bus, we believe that actually skates the law.”
He said the U.S. is facing a “crisis” created by border states whose governors have bused and flown migrants north, singling out Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for rejecting his overtures to date.
“This is an American crisis that we need to face, the humanitarian crisis that was made by human hands by some of the governors in our southern states,” Adams said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
Recent weeks have seen the Republican governors of Arizona and Texas send thousands of migrants to New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C., in protest of President Biden’s immigration policies.
Championing the same tactic, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis arranged for two flights of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., last week.
New York City alone has received some 11,000 migrants, according to Adams, who had strong criticism for Abbott and DeSantis.
“Gov. Abbott and Gov. DeSantis just wanted to use this political ploy instead of understanding these are people, these are families, these are human beings,” Adams said.
He accused Abbott of stonewalling his office.
“We’ve reached out and stated that, ‘Let’s coordinate and work together so we can deal with this crisis together,’” he said. “They refused to do so.
“They took the call and stated that they would coordinate — I’m talking about Gov. Abbott,” Adams continued. “They did not coordinate at all because I don’t think it was politically expedient for them to coordinate. It was more to do this basically political gamesmanship that you’re seeing now.”
Abbott’s office did not immediately answer a request for comment.
Abbott and Ducey launched their policy in the spring to protest President Biden’s move to lift restrictions on seeking asylum that were imposed near the start of the COVID pandemic. The rule remains in effect, under a court order.
“The Biden-Harris Administration continues ignoring and denying the historic crisis at our southern border, which has endangered and overwhelmed Texas communities for almost two years,” Abbott said in a Thursday statement.
Adams accused Abbott and DeSantis of “treating people in an inhumane manner.”
“In some cases, we had those who were COVID-positive on the buses with individuals who were dehydrated — didn’t have proper food,” the mayor said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Some were even tagged, like you would tag an animal.”
Adams and City Council members recently called on the federal government to fast-track work papers for asylum seekers. On Wednesday, the Adams administration said the influx of migrants has contributed to an “unprecedented need for [homeless] shelter services.”
Adams said Sunday that the city may begin using cruise ships as temporary homes for the homeless.
“We’re looking at that as a temporary measure, not a permanent measure,” he told “CBS New York.” “A permanent measure is, get people into housing. We have to find temporary measures to address this issue.”
