XPost: nyc.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics
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NEW YORK (AP) — New York City can't use an unconstitutional, two-
century-old “anti-pauper” law to block the state of Texas from offering migrants free bus rides to the city from the southern border, a state
judge has ruled.
The court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit brought by Mayor Eric Adams
in January against charter bus companies contracted by Texas Gov. Greg
Abbott. It sought to bar them from knowingly dropping off “needy
persons,” citing an 1817 state law that criminalized bringing an
indigent person into the state “for the purpose of making him a public
charge.”
Justice Mary Rosado said in a sternly worded decision that the law is unconstitutional for several reasons.
For one, she wrote, states are not permitted to regulate the interstate transportation of people based on their economic status.
The statute also “violates a fundamental right — the right to travel,”
she added.
Rosado said requiring bus operators to screen passengers based on the possibility that they may need public assistance when they get to their destination would infringe on that fundamental right, and punishing the
bus companies for failing to keep poor people out of the city would be improper.
The judge concluded by saying that if city officials want to do
something, they should turn to Congress rather than ask the court to
enforce “an antiquated, unconstitutional statute to infringe on an
individual's right to enter New York based on economic status.”
Starting in 2022, the state of Texas began offering migrants free bus
rides to cities with Democratic mayors. At least 46,000 were sent to
New York, 19,000 to Denver, 37,000 to Chicago and over 17,000 to other
cities, according to Abbott's office.
At the time, Adams, a Democrat, said the trips were illegal and
amounted to “political ploys from the state of Texas.”
It would have been difficult for New York City to sue Texas due to a
legal doctrine known as sovereign immunity, so it went after the
private charter companies instead.
Despite the court loss, the Adams administration said the lawsuit has
had its desired effect: Fewer charter buses brought immigrants to the
city after it was filed, and none have been identified since June,
according to a statement from his office. Adams has not given up on
further action, either.
“We are reviewing our legal options to address the costs shifted to New
York City as a result of the Texas busing scheme,” mayoral spokesperson
Liz Garcia said in a statement.
The New York Civil Liberties Union applauded the court's decision.
“Mayor Adams is not above the law and cannot keep wrongly exploiting
the plight of newly arrived immigrants to bolster his own political
agenda,” NYCLU senior staff lawyer Beth Haroules said. “Everyone,
regardless of their citizenship status or income, has the right to
freely travel and reside anywhere within the United States.”
Abbot said during one visit to New York City that Adams was right to be
upset about the surge in migrants but should be blaming President Joe
Biden.
Adams ultimately did criticize the federal government, saying it had an obligation to help the city pay for housing and providing services to
migrants.
New York has long provided shelter to more homeless people than any
other U.S. city, in part because of a 1981 court ruling requiring it to
shelter anyone who asks for it. City officials say they have provided
shelter and other services to more than 200,000 immigrants in the past
two years, only a fraction of whom arrived via Texas-sponsored buses.
As the new arrivals swelled, New York and other cities ended up
following Abbott's lead, offering migrants free bus tickets to other
places. New York paid over 4,800 fares for immigrants to travel to
Texas, including some who had been bused from there, according to city officials.
https://www.chron.com/news/article/judge-says-new-york-can-t-use- antiquated-19901371.php
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