XPost: misc.immigration.usa, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, talk.politics.misc   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   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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