NYPD now ticketing Texas migrant buses in NYC over 'minor' issues
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The NYPD pounced on buses bringing border-crossers to the Big Apple from Texas on Friday — part of a desperate effort to slow the overwhelming flow of more than 17,000 migrants that spurred Mayor Adams' state-of-emergency declaration, according to sources.
The Post saw a team of NYPD Highway Patrol officers waiting near the Port Authority pulling over four buses that had just dropped off dozens of migrants starting at around 6:15 a.m.
They then spent around an hour meticulously searching each bus for any possible infractions, including logbooks, tire treads, fluid levels and even windshield wiper placement.
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Some of the drivers were given court appearance tickets and allowed to drive off.
However, sources told The Post that the hope was to find excuses to take the buses off the road to complicate the mass ferrying of migrants from Republican border cities.
"Nothing is too minor to take them out of service," one law enforcement source told The Post of Friday's operation, which is expected to continue every day next week.
"The mayor is desperate," the source said, insisting it was directly ordered by Adams.
"Are we a sanctuary city or not?" the source asked of the apparent contradiction of clamping down on arrivals while publicly signaling a warm welcome.
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Still, some of the stopped drivers insisted that the crackdown would not scare off the companies sending them.
"I don't care if the NYPD inspects us, we'll keep making this trip because the money's too good," one of the drivers, who only gave the name Misael, said after getting four pink court-appearance tickets, including one for a loose seat.
"I'm with [Texas Gov.] Greg Abbott all the way. I don't want migrants in my state. If [President] Biden wants the borders open, the Democrat states can take them," insisted the Dallas-based driver.
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"What would you do if someone came into your house because your neighbor keeps saying, 'Welcome, welcome'?
"In Texas, we say stack 'em, pack 'em and ship 'em to New York."
Another of the drivers, Edgar Videles, 41, insisted his manager — and not the NYPD or mayor — would rule on future trips.
"It depends on my boss's orders. If he says so, then we come," he insisted bluntly after getting three court-appearance tickets.
The first vehicle that was stopped, a La Sultana Autobuses from Mexico, had just left the Port Authority after dropping off 30 migrants picked up from El Paso — the city responsible for the most shipments, with at least 7,330 migrants sent to New York City since August 23.
The officers checked the driver's logbook as well as the bus's headlights, indicators, hazard lights, wiper fluid, tire tread, brakes and tools.
After about an hour, they issued the drivers two pink tickets. The cops would not say what they were for, but one appeared to be over a loose windshield wiper.
Driver Robert Reis, 38, told The Post it was "the second time I have done this trip from Texas to New York."
"The people on the bus were migrants from Venezuela and Ecuador" whom he picked up "at a government building" in El Paso, he said.
"The trip was 40, maybe 42 hours," he said, saying he and another driver took 8-hour shifts.
"I dropped off four passengers in Dallas, four more in Nashville and then 30 passengers got off in New York.
"There were families on my bus. They said the United States was their dream. They took pictures when we stopped for gas," he said.
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At a similar time, an Ejecutivo Travel bus with Texas plates was also stopped for a similar inspection, with the officers also checking its stock of dried food and masks. It finally drove off with a ticket.
The police squad remained at the checkpoint on West 41 Street and Dyer Avenue, pulling over a third bus — driven by Misael — just after 8 a.m.
He said he brought about 20 men from Dallas, making two stops in Tennessee — in Memphis and Knoxville — on his way to Manhattan.
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"The migrants were nice — it's not their fault what's happening to them," he said.
"They are chasing the American dream."
Videles, the fourth driver stopped, said he had driven straight from Texas with 31 migrants.
NYPD Chief of Department Ken Corey stressed that the buses were only stopped for checks once they had dropped off the new arrivals.
"We did not stop buses carrying passengers — no one was detained or inconvenienced other than the drivers," he said.
"They were inspected to ensure that they were in compliance with federal regulations and that the drivers themselves were in compliance with federal regulations.
"Those were addressed through the issuance of summonses, and the buses continued on their way," he stressed.
At a press briefing, Adams did not deny knowing about the operation ahead of time, saying he constantly works with the NYPD to "clamp down on any dangerous situation."
Still, he insisted that the city was "not going to target any specific bus operations — but we are going to make sure that the asylum seekers and our people on our roads are safe.
"And so the New York City Police Department and whatever entity is being used, I'm hoping they are out there doing their job correctly, because we're concerned about the safety of asylum seekers and the safety of New Yorkers," he said.
Hizzoner declared a state of emergency Friday over the influx, which he insisted was a "humanitarian crisis" that is "unsustainable" — and will likely cost the city $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year.
"New Yorkers are angry. I am angry, too," he said.
Texas Gov. Abbott and his counterparts in Arizona and Florida have blamed the unprecedented influx on Biden's border policies, saying they've been driven to relocate thousands of migrants to Democratic sanctuary cities.
However, Adams has pointedly refused to blame Biden for the crisis engulfing the city, which has strained the homeless shelter system and forced officials to turn 42 hotels into emergency shelters.
Additional reporting by Amanda Woods and Craig McCarthy
Boot Texas' Busses...
Boot New York’s immigration and gun policies into the third millennium.
I heard the Bronx booted the migrant tent city from the Bronx’s Orchard Beach?
Booted? No. You heard wrong, again? The temporary processing center once planned for Orchard Beach was moved to Randall Park due to hurricane related flooding at Orchard Beach.
Is Breitbart spinning it like a few far rightwing cranks had something to do with it? Oh, no...
Breitbart? No, the Bronx Times.
Sure some far rightwing cranks complained about the proposed processing center at Orchard Beach. The same mostly out of state white supremacists are also protesting the Randall Park center. Orchard Beach flooded. Thay is why it was moved to Randall Park.nn
Can you cite a source? Sanctuary in NYC seems hard to find.
Randall’s Island is already home to several homeless shelters and safety net facilities, and while reachable by bus and pedestrian bridge, does not have subway access. Changing the location has not halted criticism of the emergency shelter plan. State Sen. Julia Salazar noted that the new site is also vulnerable to floods. “This sounds like a disaster. Please abandon the refugee camp idea and place people in real housing instead,” she tweeted.
"I don't care if the NYPD inspects us, we'll keep making this trip because the money's too good," one of the drivers, who only gave the name Misael, said after getting four pink court-appearance tickets, including one for a loose seat."
El Paso mayor is a Democrat
Maybe New York should build a wall.
This is all so juvenile.
rwnj's are running out of wedge issues to exploit...
How many of these migrants got on the bus in very Blue El Paso?
… and New Yorkers should be embarrassed.
Juvenile? NYC Mayor Eric Adams has declared a state of emergency to address this "crisis situation".
The influx is on track to cost New York $1 billion this fiscal year, and he wants federal and state funding.
"New Yorkers are angry," said Mayor Adams. "I am angry too. We have not asked for this. There was never any agreement to take on the job of supporting thousands of asylum seekers."
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser: "We're not a border town. We don't have an infrastructure to handle this type of and level of immigration to our city ... We're not Texas."
NYC and Chicago talk the talk but do not walk the walk. A bunch of NIMBY whiners.
The influx is on track to cost New York $1 billion this fiscal year, and he wants federal and state funding.
How brilliant does Abbott look here? For a few thousand dollars in shipping cost he’s saved the state of Texas a billion dollars already according to the Mayor of NY. Plus he’s made the buses safer while transferring the inspection costs to NY.
They want to call themselves a sacuntary city and are finding out what it costs, All these costs should come out of local budgets or increased local taxes
“NY doesn’t need these immigrants, they don’t have any fruit to pick”
Nancy Pelosi,
Nancy must not realize that NY is our second largest producer of apples and third in grapes, also large amount of dairy and beans.
Poor New York is so incompetent that it can’t handle a tiny fraction of the migrants the actual border states have to handle.
Embarrassing
Virtue signaling racist Democrats at their very best.
How many of those bus drivers were minorities? One for sure at the very least. Thought it was illegal to target anyone in NY- guess laws go out the window in Democrat run bastions of stupidity.
17,000 migrants and NY is crying. 1,500 a day pour into just El Paso, TX.
7,000 to 8,000 migrants cross the border every day. Those are just the ones they catch; or that they see but got away. Add maybe and thousand or two to that total to get the real amount.
Brandon has said repeatedly their is no crisis at the border; Harris has confirmed that; his press secretary blamed Trump. Virtue signaling racist sanctuary cities in the north didn't give a rats ass about the border; and any politician that complained about the problem was a racist. Maybe Democrats can force the Human Fuck Up Machine they put in the White House to do his damn job and enforce our border and immigration laws. If not, then drown in the non crisis you fucking caused!
Hypocrites. “These people are just looking for a better life - so long as it’s in Texas, and not NYC.”
Meanhwhile, let’s also weaponize the cops, and reinforce the wedge between the people and the police.
I’m confused … are these buses supposed to get away with all the infractions that every other vehicle owner has to deal with? I guess conservatives expect even more special privileges.
Is Adams having all out of state busses inspected? I seem to remember an outcry when Abbott had every Mexican truck inspected when entering Texas.
Good point
"...fluid levels and even windshield wiper placement."
I can see why you're confused - if this happens to you regularly.
And I thought that libs were against Stop n' Frisk.
Are you surprised by the “I was for it before I was against it” level of hypocrisy from are democrat friends?
Surprised, no, situational ethics seems the order of the day from both sides.