New York City mayor hits Texas governor over his ‘mean-spiritedness’ on immigrant crisis

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) hit Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott (R) over his “meanspiritedness” on the immigrant crisis, saying he “devastated” the lives of people coming into the country. 

During his appearance on Good Morning America 3 Thursday, Adams said that Abbott is “intentionally” getting people on buses, “compelling” them to leave the city and that is why the mayor is hitting back with a lawsuit against a dozen charter companies. 

“We reached out and tried to coordinate with just the mean-spiritedness of this governor who has, his intentionality of just placing people on buses, compelling them to leave the city,” Adams said. “That is why we’re taking legal action. When you look at what he’s doing, history is going to really reflect how much he has devastated the lives of people.” 

In early January, Adams announced a lawsuit against 17 transportation companies where he is seeking $70 million to cover the cost of taking care of migrants coming into New York City. Abbott denounced the lawsuit, calling it “baseless.” 

“It’s clear that Mayor Adams knows nothing about the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, or about the constitutional right to travel that has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Abbott wrote in a statement on Jan. 4. 

Abbott began busing migrants who came through the southern border to cities to cities led by Democrats in April 2022. The Texas governor is protesting the way the Biden administration is handling the crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border. 

To deal with the surge of migrants crossing the border, Texas laid down a razor wire on its border with Mexico. During his appearance on the “The Dana Loesch Show,” Abbot said the only thing that the state of Texas is not doing to deter people from crossing the border is “shooting people.” 

“The only thing that we’re not doing is we’re not shooting people who come across the border, because of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder,” Abbott said.

While speaking about the migrant crisis on Thursday, Adams said one of the important factors surrounding the issue is immigrants not being able “to work.” 

“Listen, this is a country of immigrants,” Adams said. “The difference between what we did with Ukrainian citizens and other immigrants who have made their way here to this great country is we allowed them to work.” 

“This is so anti-American, that we’re telling thousands of people you must come to a country and you can’t provide for your children and families. That is not how we are as a country, and that is what is at the heart of this issue.”