Judge: N.Y. Can't Use 'Antiquated, Unconstitutional' Law to Block Migrant Buses From Texas

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.”