NJ mayor says buses of migrants bound for NY are being dropped off at NJ train stations
SECAUCUS, NJ — A New Jersey mayor says buses carrying migrants bound for New York City have stopped at his city's train station and others in an apparent attempt to evade an executive order from New York's mayor seeking to regulate how and when migrants can be dropped off in the city.
Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli said Sunday that Secaucus police and city officials were informed by Hudson County officials about the arrival of buses at the Secaucus Junction train station early Saturday. He said four buses arrived and dropped off migrants who then took trains to New York City.
Gonnelli said the executive order recently signed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams requires bus companies to provide at least 32 hours' notice of arrivals and limits drop-off hours.
“It seems quite clear that the bus companies are finding a way to thwart the requirements of the executive order by dropping off migrants at the train station in Secaucus and driving them to their final destination,” Gonnelli said in a statement. He suggested the order may be “too strict” and lead to “unexpected consequences.”
Gonnelli called the tactic a “loophole” that bus companies have discovered to allow migrants to reach New York City, adding that state police have reported that “this is now happening at train stations across the state.” Gonnelli vowed to work with state and county officials and “continue to closely monitor this situation.”
A post on a social media account for Jersey City states that the city's emergency management office is reporting that “approximately ten buses from various locations in Texas and one from Louisiana have arrived at various transit stations throughout the state, including Secaucus, Fanwood, Edison, Trenton .” About 397 migrants had arrived at those locations since Saturday, the post said Sunday.
“This is clearly going to be a statewide conversation, so it's important that we wait for some guidance from the governor here on next steps,” the post said.
Tyler Jones, a spokesman for New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, told lehighvalleylive.com that New Jersey is used as a transit point for migrants, almost all of whom continued on to New York City. Jones said New Jersey officials are “working closely with federal and local officials,” including our counterparts across the Hudson.
Adams joined the mayors of Chicago and Denver last week to renew pleas for more federal assistance and coordination with Texas due to the growing number of asylum seekers arriving in their cities by bus and plane.
“We cannot allow buses carrying people who need our help to arrive at all hours of the day and night without warning,” Adams said Wednesday at a virtual news conference with the other mayors. “Not only does this prevent us from providing relief in an orderly manner, it greatly endangers those who have already suffered.”
The Democratic mayors, who met with President Joe Biden last month, want more federal funds, efforts to expand work permits and a schedule for when the buses will arrive. Cities have already spent hundreds of millions of dollars to house, transport and provide medical care to migrants.