New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is demanding that nearly two dozen charter bus companies sending New York City-bound migrants to "transit" stops in the Garden State provide advance notice.
Murphy sent a letter Monday in response to charter buses transporting migrants from the southern border to New Jersey "due to the operators’ unwillingness to transport their passengers to New York City," after Mayor Eric Adams issued a Dec. 27 executive order limiting drop-offs to certain times and locations in the Big Apple.
Since Dec. 31, dozens of charter buses transporting over 1,800 individuals who recently arrived in the U.S. have arrived at transit sites in New Jersey, "with nearly all of the passengers continuing from those locations in New Jersey to their intended destinations in New York City," Murphy’s letter claimed.
To give officials advance notice and time to properly prepare to assist these migrants, Murphy, a Democrat, has asked for each bus company to give the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management at least 32 hours’ notice before their anticipated date and time of arrival and provide details on the total number of passengers on each bus expected to arrive in New Jersey.
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The letter deemed that the migrant buses in New Jersey come "at the apparent instigation" of Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and tells the companies that in addition to requesting this information, "We reserve all rights to take appropriate action against any person acting in violation of any applicable laws."
For each migrant bus, Murphy is asking the companies to disclose the number of single adults traveling alone; the number of passengers traveling as part of a family, including the number of families with children under 18; the number of children under 18; and the number of chaperones (other than family members) for otherwise unaccompanied minors.
The governor also asks that the companies provide each location in New Jersey where passengers will be dropped off, along with the estimated time of arrival; the time and city of the bus’s initial departure with its passengers; and a description of the bus, including its license plate number, color, and any identifiable exterior features.
"As we continue to see more migrants arrive to our state at the hands of the Governor of Texas, who is reportedly funding the passengers’ transportation with taxpayer funds, notice to New Jersey officials in advance of these individuals’ anticipated arrival is critical to ensuring the health and safety of passengers once they arrive in New Jersey," Murphy said in a statement. "Additionally, because we know the vast majority of these individuals are intending to travel to New York City, this information will be shared with our colleagues across the Hudson to ensure the passengers’ health and safety there."
Meanwhile, Abbott said on Sunday that New York City’s Adams should sue President Biden instead of the bus companies transporting migrants from the southern border to the Big Apple.
In a move Abbott’s office has dismissed as "legally baseless" and a "political statement," the city filed a $708 million lawsuit against 17 charter bus and transportation companies transporting migrants to New York City from Texas.
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"He needs to be suing Joe Biden, not these bus companies. Because it's Joe Biden and Joe Biden's policies that's causing the massive multi-million influx into the United States that leads to many of them wanting to go to New York," Abbott told "Fox News Sunday" host Shannon Bream.
Speaking to the media Monday, Adams decried how more than 164,000 migrants – or 1.5 times the population of the state capital of Albany – have been dropped off in New York City.
"We communicated with the governor last week," Adams said of New Jersey’s Murphy. "He has shared our outrage on the behavior of the bus companies and Governor Abbott, and he has really, as the … other municipalities in this region have really shown their willingness to really address this issue."
Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy deemed Murphy a "great partner" in dealing with the migrant influx, while Chief Counsel to the Mayor and City Hall Lisa Zornberg condemned a "deliberate, express plan to flood and overwhelm the social services system of the City of New York and a few other targeted cities."
"And the bussing plan that Governor Abbott is leading with the full participation of certain bus companies, seeks to punish New York City and certain other cities for political reasons," Zornberg said.
Adams also told reporters he was considering installing metal detectors and cameras at migrant shelters after the deadly stabbing of a man at a Randall’s Island facility Saturday.
