In a stunning and unexpected move to stop Texas Gov. Greg Abbott from shipping busloads of asylum seekers to New York City, Mayor Eric Adams has filed a lawsuit against 17 charter bus companies used by the Lone Star State.
He wants the bus companies to reimburse the city for the hundreds of millions of dollars it’s cost to shelter them.
Just call it the Empire State strikes back, with a bold counter punch to Abbott.
“New York City has and will always do our part to manage this humanitarian crisis, but we cannot bear the cost of reckless political ploys from the state of Texas, alone,” Adams said.
Adams is an asshole, but this is an objectively good move on his part, both legally and morally.
Agreed. If he sued Texas or Abbott directly, it would just be used for political points and if anything just incentivize Abbott to keep doing it. Those bus companies, though? They probably will quit rather than face bankruptcy, and other bus companies are now on notice.
Make no mistake, this busing is kidnapping and human trafficking. A civil case is not enough.
I cannot fathom how this isn’t a case in federal court RIGHT NOW with the principles (DeSantis/Abbot) at the defense table. Kidnapping, human trafficking, misuse of state funds, unlawful fucking everything
It’s crazy, there is so much institutional resistance to applying the law to our ruling class.
when are desantis, abbott, and paxton going to be federally charged with human trafficking under fosta and sesta? because that is literally what they’re doing.
Has anyone prove this assertion?
I keep seeing it, but never proof. I’ve seem migrants alleged they were lied to. I can believe it, but has anyone proven it - Leo or journo?
If you can prove it as a journalist, you get in the running for awards.
Edit: I know the lemmyverse doesn’t like this question. So far one person has provided a link as proof - and it did no such thing. It alleged lightly and then equivocates.
The downvotes don’t change truth. They just make us look silly and uninformed.
Edit 2: Human trafficking as defined in US law.
Please don’t act like I’m not doing research. Or that I’m uninformed.
However, I am always open to new, fact-based information. Facts have to matter. If we give up on those too, then the US is in an even worse state than I hoped.
Willfully ignoring the dozens of articles proving exactly that when they started doing this doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Link one that proves it?
That’s all I asked. When I look, I see allegations, not proof.
Edit to add the things I find when I search the internet trying to find that it’s true:
"Each law varies, but many laws define human trafficking as recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
As such, I think it is an exaggeration to claim that governors in Republican states are engaging in human trafficking by sending migrants to other states. In most cases that I have heard about, migrants have been happy to accept bus or plane tickets, even if they don’t know where they are going."
I am trying to find that it’s proven and cannot find it.
But lemmy says it on every article. It doesn’t make it true. Accepted as fact is not the same as being one.
Took five seconds to find a relevant article with direct quotes proving they were lied to and trafficked to unknown destinations.
It’s almost like you’re just lying.
Directly from your linked article:
Attorney and Journalist Seth Abramson also weighed in on the Florida governor’s recent decision, questioning the legality behind the unknowing transportation of around 50 immigrants.
“Only a very very small—vanishingly small—percentage of lawyers are expert in human trafficking legislation, and I’m not one of them,” Abramson wrote. “So I would love to hear additional discussion from experts and law enforcement about the legality of what DeSantis and Abbott are doing.”
You’re confusing allegations with proof. And human trafficking is a rather specific assertion.
The article you posted does not prove what you assert. It alleges and equivocates.
I’m not lying. I just read entire articles.
Edit: If we want to talk integrity, trying to pass something like the below off as proof, that’s an integrity issue.
Senator Adam Gomez @AdamGomezMA
Transporting undocumented immigrants across state lines against their will… isn’t that the very definition of human trafficking
6:27 PM · Sep 14, 2022
I don’t need it proven in a court of law. A trusted journalist being lied to and shipped off would do it. But people keep passing a truth as proven, lemmy is buying it, and I can’t find actual proof. It’s Trunp-world stuff, just from the left.
Edit next: I’m glad you or someone removed your insult calling me a “disengenuous half-wit.” You haven’t provided proof, but you have shown poor faith.
I have the pics of the comment.
deleted by creator
A good move from Eric Adams.
Apparently, they’ve already found a workaround: https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/secaucus-junction-asylum-seekers-buses-texas-new-york-city/
Letting the train do the final journey:
Wonder what’s next.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Greg Abbott from shipping busloads of asylum seekers to New York City, Mayor Eric Adams has filed a lawsuit against 17 charter bus companies used by the Lone Star State.
“New York City has and will always do our part to manage this humanitarian crisis, but we cannot bear the cost of reckless political ploys from the state of Texas, alone,” Adams said.
The mayor sued the bus companies who, since the spring of 2022, have been used by Abbott to ship asylum seekers to New York, with officials showing them maps, giving them bar-coded bracelets with their destinations clearly marked, and then checked by drivers to make sure they land in the city.
READ MORE: Children caught in the middle of political battle between New York and Texas over asylum seeker crisis
The last straw for the mayor was apparently Abbott’s decision to send buses to New Jersey train stations connecting to New York City to thwart an executive order limiting the days and and hours busloads of asylum seekers could arrive here.
Adams and Abbott have been engaged in an intense game of Texas Hold 'Em poker over the asylum seeker crisis.
The original article contains 435 words, the summary contains 193 words. Saved 56%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
to thwart an executive order limiting the days and and hours busloads of asylum seekers could arrive
Somewhat disingenuous here - they wanted it to be during the business day, when there are people available to help take care of the immigrants, and to call ahead, so someone could meet the buses and get the people immediate help. There may also have been something about spreading out the buses, because no one can help 13 bus loads arriving at once with no notice when no one is at work
What kind of inhuman monster dumps these people on city streets in off hours with no place to stay, when there’s no one around to help, and stuff is closed? Are they really dumping them at a train station and just sending them in?
How can anyone support the type of monster that plays with people’s lives like this, for a political stunt?
Currently where I am, it is 19°F, with a windchill of 12°, and I can’t believe someone crossing the border in Texas is prepared for this. This is literally human lives on the line for a political stunt
They aren’t owed any support, this suit has zero grounds and will fail. If you come here illegally don’t expect to things handed to you on a silver platter.
Look, fuck Texas, fuck Greg Abbott, buuutttt. This is a good move on his part. I am an “abolish borders” person, but that’s not the reality here (or anytime real soon). We have a humanitarian crisis on the southern border, and the country, collectively, should be sharing the burden (just as Europe should share it’s own similar burden).
They get federal funds specifically for this. They’re keeping the money and dumping the problem on other states.
Well then, redistribute the money and spread the migrants and refugees around.
That’s not how it works. Refugees aren’t criminals and they aren’t breaking any laws. Applying for asylum is 100% legal. They can’t be “spread around” any more than you can. That’s why NY is suing the bus companies.
I didn’t say they were criminals or breaking any laws. They can absolutely be spread around. There are already gov and NGO programs setup to do exactly this. We just need more of it. Right now, they are slow-walking claims processing, and making many people wait in shelters in Mexico. Others are kept for long periods in the infamous detention centers in Texas. Those are federal facilities. The feds could transport them anywhere in the country.
In the US, people who are not criminals in custody can’t be forced to move around the country against their will. Applying for asylum is like applying for a passport. It’s just a process of getting a certain ID. You can live wherever in the US while you wait.
New York has a law making bus drivers responsible for the welfare of their riders post-ride? That sounds pretty insane, if true.
Suing the companies for engaging in a contract that is legally dicey (potentially trafficking), not the drivers who drove the busses
Honestly I thought it was a trafficking lawsuit. I feel like it would be a stronger case and send the more appropriate message
That’s not what the article says.
He wants the bus companies to reimburse the city for the hundreds of millions of dollars it’s cost to shelter them.
…
The suit seeks $708 million to compensate the city for the cost of shelter, food and health care.
“These companies have violated state law by not paying the cost of caring for these migrants,” Adams said.
… The suit charges the companies with “bad faith” conduct and violating New York social service law by dumping the asylum seekers in New York City without providing a means of support.
edit:
A note for the purpose of clarity, I was saying that the article does not contain information that supports this statement:
Suing the companies for engaging in a contract that is legally dicey (potentially trafficking)
The mayor sued the bus companies who, since the spring of 2022, have been used by Abbott to ship asylum seekers to New York, with officials showing them maps, giving them bar-coded bracelets with their destinations clearly marked, and then checked by drivers to make sure they land in the city.
Check the suit itself if you really want to confirm but it’s pretty clear that it’s against the companies.
I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear. I didn’t mean he isn’t suing the companies. I meant the companies aren’t being sued for trafficking or potential trafficking or possible trafficking.
What about maybe trafficking?
Let me check.
No.
I will agree with you to an extent, but that only stands if all parties are being reasonable (which they are not). It would be more ethical to sue the companies getting paid for the contracts to run the bussed, but I dont think that covers everything New York set out to do.
First, they are betting that the bus companies wont go to bat for the drivers, this effectivly puts the risk of fines on both entities. Ideally this causes the companies to stop accepting the charters at risk of being sued by their own employees for telling them to do something illegal (in a different state). Also stops the drivers from accepting the charters as they likely wont be able to afford the fine, nor the legal fees, it creates too large of a risk for themselves.
Second, this covers politically motivated individuals who want to “volunteer” or any other excuse as to why they are conducting the same actions.
I think its pretty ham-fisted but they wouldent think it was a good idea if the entity it is directed at (Texas) was open to discussing actual solutions.
Exactly. I have no idea if there is merit to the lawsuit but it’ll make charter bus companies think twice about accepting contracts to transport migrants across state borders if there is a chance they may be sued and have to deal with the legal cost of defending themselves.
