A Twitchy reported earlier this week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who ran on keeping New York a sanctuary city, was restricting bus arrivals to New York City, telling busloads of illegal immigrants to just keep on driving. We'd been assured that was kidnapping, and it certainly wasn't very becoming of a sanctuary city which Adams says is at a "breaking point."
Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley reports that New York City has actually filed a lawsuit against the bus companies. We couldn't believe it either.
The New York lawsuit is truly a thing to behold. It is a frivolous lawsuit based on an absurd law motivated by raw hypocrisy. The lawsuit will likely be challenged as unconstitutional due to its vagueness and curtailment of interstate travel.https://t.co/yARmmfssfS
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 5, 2024
Turley writes:
New York City Major Eric Adams announced on Thursday that he is suing bus companies for over $700 million for busing undocumented persons to the state. This is truly a thing to behold. It is a frivolous lawsuit based on an absurd law motivated by raw hypocrisy. In the meantime, the Biden Administration has been flying migrants to outside the city but no lawsuit is expected.
New York City politicians have long heralded their status as a sanctuary city. Yet, it is now taking various methods to prevent migrants from seeking sanctuary by threatening anyone who brings them to the city.
The lawsuit will rely on New York Social Services Law § 149, which requires that “[a]ny person who knowingly brings, or causes to be brought, a needy person from out of state into this state for the purpose of making him a public charge…shall be obligated to convey such person out of state or support him at his own expense.”
Of course, these companies are not transporting people to make them a public charge. They are transporting these people because they or a third party paid the fare for transport. That statute expressly allows the commissioner of the New York City Department of Social Services (DSS) to sue to recover costs.
In seeking to impose crippling fines and damages on transportation companies, the lawsuit will likely be challenged as unconstitutional due to its vagueness, curtailment of interstate travel, and a host of other glaring problems.
That law doesn't sound like something a sanctuary city would have on the books. And as Turley notes, it hasn't stopped the Biden administration from flying planeloads of illegal immigrants into New York. They even have special lines at the airport for undocumented illegals boarding flights. Maybe he should sue President Biden since he's responsible for brining "public charges" into the city.
The lawsuit threatens the most important right in America, according to the democrats, which is the absolute right for illegal aliens to freely travel the country.
— TS the Deplorable (@TStheDeplorable) January 5, 2024
How can a bus company know the citizenship status of the people it transports?
— Kelly Leak (@KellyLeak76) January 5, 2024
This mayor believes he needs to be seen "doing something." He tends to confuse activities with results.
— Andrea E (@AAC0519) January 5, 2024
Well, the Mayor can't be seen publicly scolding Biden, so he scolds Abbott for trying to deal with Biden's failure. Hopefully, he is scolding Biden's puppeteers, those who actually run the border fiasco, behind the scenes.
— Logic Reason Compassion (@rt50484) January 6, 2024
Isn't it also illegal for bus companies to require that passengers disclose their immigration status?
— Mark Alias (@realMarkAlias) January 5, 2024
Sue Joe Biden and Mayorkas.
— War Observer (@WarObserver14) January 5, 2024
Chicago wouldn't let a busload of migrants off the bus and made them drive away. Isn't that illegal? If that was Americans and they said "you can't come to Chicago" and held you against your will in the bus that's got to be a crime right?
— Bad Take Directorate (@Boomer_Approved) January 5, 2024
Did the bus companies do anything illegal?
— Anne Sayre Patterson 🇺🇸🍾🥂🌴 (@PinkBubbles_asp) January 5, 2024
No, but the immigrants on the buses did.
The illegals should sue the city and state of new York for not providing the services required under new York law.
— John Dover (@InWonderland20) January 5, 2024
New York City has run out of room to house them; as Adams said, "For many months we were able to keep visualization of this crisis from hitting our streets… But we have reached a breaking point. We are no longer able to do that." Oh, so he's worried about the "visualization" of the crisis. Yeah, it doesn't look good for him.
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