New York City imposes restrictions on arrivals of migrant buses

NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- New York City Wednesday issued restrictions on arrivals of buses loaded with migrants amid a new wave of arrival, according to an executive order issued by New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Charter bus companies transporting new migrant arrivals into New York City were required to provide a 32-hour notice before arrival and information on the population aboard, said the order.

Charter bus companies also were required to drop passengers off at a designated location in Manhattan only during specified hours, it said.

New York City also sent warning letters to charter bus companies that New York City has identified as engaging in transporting newly arrived migrants from Texas to the city.

Knowingly violating the executive order constitutes a class B misdemeanor crime punishable by up to three months imprisonment and up to a 500-U.S.-dollar fine for individuals and up to 2,000 dollars for corporations, according to New York State law.

Moreover, companies knowingly violating the executive order could have their buses impounded by the New York City Police Department.

Adams announced the decision in a virtual joint news conference with Brandon Johnson, the mayor of Chicago, and Mike Johnston, the mayor of Denver, calling for additional federal support to manage the national asylum-seeker crisis.

In November, New York City began to see another surge, with 14 buses of migrants arriving in the city within a single night last week, according to a release by the New York City Mayor's Office.

"Today's executive order will help ensure the city can continue to manage this humanitarian crisis in an orderly way," said the release.

It's reported that the City of Chicago recently instituted similar regulations on bus companies.

New York City plans to pursue a 20 percent reduction in spending on the migrant crisis in the fiscal year 2024 preliminary budget, which will be released in January.

The influx of migrants will cost New York City 12 billion dollars over three years, according to a city estimate in August 2023.