Buses filled with migrants have been dropped off at New Jersey train stations in an effort to circumvent New York Mayor Eric Adams' executive order restricting the arrival of buses from Texas.
About 10 buses dropped off passengers from Texas and Louisiana at train stations across the Garden State on Sunday, including stations in Secaucus, Trenton, Fanwood and Edison.
Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli said police and city officials were informed by Hudson County officials about the arrival of buses at the train station in Secaucus Junction, which began Saturday.
He went on to say that four buses were believed to have arrived and dropped off migrants who then took the train to New York City and that Adams' order may have been “too strict” and led to “unexpected consequences.”
“It seems very 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,” the New Jersey mayor said in a statement declaration.
Nearly 397 migrants have arrived at various train stations since Saturday after boarding buses from Texas and Louisiana and stopping in New Jersey.
It is believed that passengers are arriving in New Jersey before heading to New York City to avoid Mayor Eric Adams' executive order limiting the number of bus arrivals from Texas.
Adams issued the order last week stating that buses could only arrive at the Port Authority to drop off migrants between 8:30 a.m. and noon Monday through Friday unless authorized to do otherwise.
Gonnelli called the drop-offs in New Jersey a “loophole” that bus companies have discovered to get migrants into New York City.
According to a post from a Jersey City account on X, nearly 397 migrants had arrived at the various train stations since Saturday.
“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 as buses continue,” the post said.
Although New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has not immediately commented on the increase in migrants, a spokesperson for his office said Lehigh Valley Live that government officials are 'working closely with federal and local officials,' including our counterparts across the Hudson.”
A spokesperson for New York City Hall said Monday that the city “has led the nation in responding to this national humanitarian crisis, providing compassion, care, shelter and essential services to more than 161,000 migrants.”
They added that the new executive order is “part of that effort, ensuring the safety and well-being of both migrants and city employees.”
Last week, Mayor Adams met with state leaders in Chicago and Denver, who were also witnessing an influx of asylum seekers in their cities. They discussed new pleas for more federal assistance and coordination with Texas.
Adams' issued the order last week stating that buses could only arrive at the Port Authority to drop off migrants between 8:30 a.m. and noon Monday through Friday unless authorized to do otherwise
Migrants in New York City are seen being bused to a shelter after arriving from Texas
“We cannot allow buses carrying people who need our help to arrive at all hours of the day and night without warning,” Adams said at a virtual press conference on Wednesday.
“Not only does this prevent us from providing relief in an orderly manner, it endangers those who have already suffered so much.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott then defied Adam's order when another busload was set to be dropped off on New Year's Eve, just as the ball dropped in Times Square.
Despite this, a Big Apple-bound bus filled with about 50 asylum seekers left El Paso, Texas, around 11 a.m. on Saturday.
A charter driver told DailyMail.com that the bus was due to arrive in Gotham on Sunday evening and was filled with passengers, including women and children.
Officials in Texas would not confirm whether they had received permission to leave migrants in New York beyond the time set by Adams.
The two-member driving team was later scolded by state officials for speaking to DailyMail.com.
When asked about Adams' executive order, a Venezuelan woman taking a bus in Texas to New York said, “We're not all the same.” Maybe some migrants already there have done things they weren't supposed to do.
'We're going to work there. We just need an opportunity,” she added.
The woman, who did not want to be named, was traveling with her 11-year-old daughter and revealed they entered the US via El Paso on Christmas Day.
“Work, that's all we want is work,” said a migrant man standing next to the mother and daughter.
Abbott chartered a private plane earlier this month for about 120 migrants to avoid roadblocks in Chicago, and said more planes are coming.
Migrants are seen arriving in Chicago on a bus from Texas. Mayor Adams met with state leaders in Chicago and Denver to discuss plans for federal assistance and coordination with Texas
Texas Governor Greg Abbott defied Adam's new executive order after a bus carrying about 50 asylum seekers bound for the Big Apple left El Paso, Texas, around 11 a.m. on Saturday
Migrant shelters in West Texas are full and a vacant center shelter is now housing migrants.
The beleaguered Eagle Pass saw more than 22,000 migrants arrive in their small town in just one week, Border Patrol confirmed.
“Texas communities like Eagle Pass and El Paso should not have to endure the unprecedented wave of illegal immigration caused by President Biden's reckless open border policies,” Abbott previously said.
El Paso, which was the epicenter of the border crisis for much of last year, has three larger processing centers built over the past 12 months specifically to handle the flow of migrants at the border.
Although the city encounters about 1,000 migrants a day — far fewer than the current hotspots of Lukeville, Arizona, or Eagle Pass, Texas, where 10 times that number cross the border — officials here have the ability to quickly scale up their response if that number is peaking.
On Wednesday, 14,700 migrants crossed the U.S. southern border in the past month and reached New York City, Adams said in a recent statement.
More than 161,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York since the spring of 2022.