NY judge rules against Eric Adams' request to halt migrant bus arrivals from TX

A court this week issued a critical decision in the ongoing battle about illegal migrants and their inconvenient, costly, and often dangerous presence in America's big cities.

Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Mary Rosado dealt a harsh blow to NYC Mayor Eric Adams and like-minded individuals in the Biden administration, by ruling against his efforts to halt the arrival of buses full of migrants sent by Texas and its Republican governor, Greg Abbott, as CBS News reports.

Origins of dispute

As Fox News reported earlier this year, Adams filed suit against a group of charter bus companies that participated in the transportation of migrants to the Big Apple in a program spearheaded by Abbott.

Included in his complaint was a request for hundreds of millions of dollars to help pay for the new arrivals, who had been sent by other jurisdictions to the self-declared “sanctuary” city.

In a statement issued at the time of filing, Adams stated, “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.”

“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,” he went on.

Adams added, “Governor Abbott's continued use of migrants as political pawns is not only chaotic and inhumane but makes clear he puts politics over people. Today's lawsuit should serve as a warning to all those who break the law in this way.”

Court rejects mayor's argument

Though Adams sought a preliminary injunction stopping the Texas busing companies from bringing migrants to New York, the high court disagreed, instead siding with the New York Civil Liberties Union, which contended that his move was in violation of the Constitution.

Rosado deemed Adams' lawsuit to be on incredibly shaky ground, adding that his complaint was “a plain attempt to regulate the transportation of indigent persons from State to State in violation of the Interstate Commerce Clause.”

“The Court finds that it cannot grant the Commissioner's request for injunctive relief as the merits of her claim are dubious at best given myriad constitutional concerns,” wrote Rosado, as the New York Post reports.

Reactions pour in

In response to the judge's decision, Lisa Zornberg, chief counsel to Mayor Adams and to City Hall expressed regret but attempted to find a silver lining.

“Notwithstanding the court's ruling, the fact that we brought the lawsuit, for a period of January until now, had the effect of at least half of those bus companies stopped transporting individuals at Texas direction to New York City and was helpful to our management of the situation overall.”

A lawyer for the bus companies named as defendants in Adams' suit also weighed in on the ruling, saying that “the judge is to be applauded for her objectivity and integrity in following the law and ignoring political considerations.”

Abbott himself lauded the outcome on X, writing, “Another WIN! The New York Supreme Court REJECTED Mayor Adams' attempt to block Texas from busing migrants to his sanctuary city. Until the Biden-Harris Administration secures the border, Texas will continue to send migrants to sanctuary cities."