Buses with migrants bound for New York arrive at NJ Transit stations

By Alvin Wu
Domestic Affairs
Buses with migrants bound for New York arrive at NJ Transit stations

Lower level island platform at NJ Transit's Secaucus Junction station. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/Jim McIntosh

EDISON, N.J., Jan. 1 (ZFJ) — Buses carrying migrants bound for New York City have been arriving at multiple NJ Transit stations, said local authorities across the state.

The Jersey City Office of Emergency Management said on X (formerly Twitter) that about 10 buses from Texas and one from Louisiana with approximately 397 migrants arrived at train stations in Secaucus, Fanwood, Edison, Trenton, and Jersey City since Saturday, Dec. 30.

The buses appear to be circumventing New York Mayor Eric Adams’ recent issuing of Executive Order 538, which requires chartered buses carrying migrants to provide city authorities 32 hours’ notice before arrival. The order also restricted the hours in which the buses can drop off their passengers to between 08:30 to noon.

“Our Administration has tracked the recent arrival of a handful of buses of migrant families at various NJ Transit train stations. New Jersey is primarily being used as a transit point for these families—all or nearly all of them continued with their travels en route to their final destination of New York City,” said Tyler Jones, deputy press secretary for the N.J. governor. “We are closely coordinating with our federal and local partners on this matter, including our colleagues across the Hudson.”

An official with N.J. Governor Phil Murphy’s office said that many of the migrants arrived with “chaperones” who switched them from the buses to trains.

Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli said that the police and town officials were notified by Hudson County officials that four buses had arrived at the Secaucus Junction train station beginning on Dec. 30. He added that his understanding is that the migrants then took trains to New York.

“It seems quite clear the bus operators are finding a way to thwart the requirements of the Executive Order by dropping migrants at the train station in Secaucus and having them continue to their final destination,” Gonnelli said in a statement. “Perhaps the requirements Mayor Adams put in place are too stringent and are resulting in unexpected consequences as it seems the bus operators have figured out a loophole in the system in order to ensure the migrants reach their final destination, which is New York City.”

A spokesperson for NYC City Hall responded to criticism of E.O. 538 in an emailed statement to the ZFJ, saying, “New York City has led the nation in responding to this national humanitarian crisis, providing compassion, care, shelter, and vital services to more than 161,000 migrants who have come through our care since spring 2022. Executive Order 538 is part of that effort, ensuring the safety and well-being of both migrants and city staff receiving them.”

Edison Mayor Sam Joshi said on social media that he has instructed township police and emergency management to charter a bus, should any migrants arrive, to send them back to the southern Texas border.

“Over the years I have expressed my disagreement with the concept of ‘sanctuary’ cities and states and I won’t allow Edison to be subjected to its consequences,” Joshi wrote.

“Edison is a municipality with a significant immigrant population, and I will continue to support legal immigration.”

Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr also issued a statement on the “humanitarian crisis.”

“I want to assure our residents that no one in Fanwood was informed ahead of time of the arrival of the buses and that as far as we can determine, none of those passengers remained in Fanwood,” she said. “Assuming that these passengers were, indeed, migrants from Texas, I find it absolutely deplorable that they are being shuffled around like cattle.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott began sending buses of migrants to New York City in April 2022 in an effort to push Democratic mayors and U.S. President Joe Biden to take responsibility for them.

The NYC mayor’s office said that, in the last month, the city saw over 14,700 new migrant arrivals. The mayor has condemned Abbott’s policies as “cruel and inhumane,” saying that he is using the migrants as “political pawns.” On Dec. 27, he and the mayors of Chicago and Denver called for more federal support for their cities to handle the migrants.

“Instead of joining us in treating human beings humanely, Texas Governor Greg Abbott continues to treat asylum seekers like political pawns, and is instead now dropping families off in surrounding cities and states in the cold, dark of night with train tickets to travel to New York City, just like he has been doing in Chicago in response to their similar executive order,” said a NYC City Hall spokesperson. “This is exactly why we have been coordinating with surrounding cities and counties since before issuing our order to encourage them to take similar executive action to protect migrants against this cruelty.”

Update 2024-01-01, 19:48 - Added NYC City Hall spokesperson’s emailed statement.

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