The Democrat mayor of Edison, New Jersey, said he has ordered law enforcement to charter a bus to return migrants sent to his state back to the U.S.-Mexico border.
At least 13 buses from Texas and Louisiana have dropped off migrants in New Jersey, WABC-TV in New York reported Tuesday, with the migrants then taking buses and trains to New York. The buses arrived at train stations in Secaucus, Fanwood, Edison, and Trenton.
The buses are being sent to New Jersey to avoid New York Mayor Eric Adams' executive order that limits when buses can arrive at the city's Port Authority, WABC reported. About 450 migrants have been dropped off recently.
Sam Joshi, the mayor of Edison, told WABC he is taking steps to keep the migrants out of Edison, instructing law enforcement to charter a bus to transport them back to the U.S.-Mexico border.
"The solution for me as the mayor of Edison is not to pawn it off to another mayor," Joshi said.
Joshi also told ABC News police did not know whether the 40 people who arrived in his city were carrying any weapons.
"They couldn't be identified, and that is a major problem," he said. "That's a major security risk. It's a health risk. And we're just not going to tolerate that."
Said Democrat Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop: "At the end of the day, they're desperate people who need help, and we want to do the right thing and be helpful."
Under the order of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas since 2022 has sent more than 80,000 migrants to Democrat-led cities that have declared themselves sanctuaries for illegal immigrants, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Other states such as Louisiana and Florida have made similar moves.
Democrat Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora told The Associated Press most migrants who arrived in his city have moved on to New York, but 10 people have stayed with family in the area.
"We empathize when someone is trying to seek asylum or when someone is trying to take them in. But we don't have the capacity to take them in," he said.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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