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TX bus company agrees to stop busing migrants to NYC amid Adams lawsuit

By and Alex Meier
Updated  March 20, 2024 1:25pm EDT
NYC Migrants
FOX 5 NY

Migrant buses not complying with executive order

Buses delivering migrants to New York City appear to be trying to find their way around a new executive order by Mayor Eric Adams to restrict when buses can arrive in the city. FOX 5 NY's Morgan McKay has the story.

NEW YORK - A Texas bus company responsible for chartering migrants to New York City is halting this practice as Mayor Eric Adams’s lawsuit against these charters proceeds, FOX 5 NY’s Morgan McKay has learned.

Roadrunner Charters Inc. is one of 17 defendants in the $700 million Adams administration suit against these bus companies, many sent to NYC by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, City Hall has alleged.

Over the past two years, the migrant crisis has forced the city to have to make drastic budget cuts and open hundreds of new shelter sites across the five boroughs. In the court filing, the city is seeking more than $700 million from these companies to cover the costs of caring and sheltering these migrants. A separate Adams executive order also limits where and when these companies can drop off migrants.

In a statement, Adams urged other bus companies to follow Roadrunner’s lead.

"New York City continues to do our part as we lead the nation in managing this national humanitarian crisis, but reckless political games from the state of Texas will not be tolerated," the statement read. "I am pleased to see that Roadrunner – one of the bus companies we sued for taking part in Texas Governor Abbott's scheme to transport tens of thousands of migrants to our city in an attempt to overwhelm our shelter system and shift costs to New York City – has agreed to halt the bussing of migrants into and around New York City while the lawsuit proceeds."

Migrant buses finding loopholes in Adams order

Buses are continuing to drop off migrants in several New Jersey towns. Edison Mayor Sam Joshi is vowing to return the asylum seekers to the US/ Mexico border.

Roadrunners is responsible for driving migrants to New York City and New Jersey transit stops after they were flown to Philadelphia on Dec. 27 and later on Jan. 3, according to the Mayor’s Office.

As of March 15, approximately 65,000 migrants were in the city’s care, according to the Mayor’s office. In total, New York City is now providing shelter to 120,000 people.

The city also claims to have provided "shelter and care to approximately 183,000 migrants" over the course of the past two years.

Map of known NYC migrant shelters (working)

FOX 5 NY is tracking known migrant shelters in NYC. This map will continue to be updated.