Hundreds of migrants dropped off in New Jersey, bypassing New York City rules

Hundreds of illegal immigrants were dropped off in New Jersey and took trains to New York City, which bypasses the city's regulations on when migrants can arrive. 

At least four buses arrived over the weekend in Secaucus, New Jersey, and from there, the illegal immigrants would take trains into New York City, the town's mayor said.

The new arrivals are being bused to New Jersey after New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued an executive order last week that requires buses filled with illegal immigrants to give notice 32 hours before arriving and only allows buses to arrive at one location weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 12 p.m.

"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," Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli said. He also said that Adams' arrival requirements are "perhaps ... too stringent" and there are reports that illegal immigrants are being dropped off throughout the entire state of New Jersey to make their way into the city. 

Jersey City is also struggling with new arrivals. The city posted Sunday on X, formerly Twitter, that 10 buses from Texas and one from Louisiana carried nearly 400 migrants to various locations throughout the state over the weekend. 

More than 160,000 illegal immigrants have come to New York City since the spring of 2022, according to The New York Times, and the city has been struggling to house all of them as required by court decree. 

Through its Operation Lone Star border response program, Texas has transported more than 33,600 new arrivals to New York City since August 2022, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday.

Tyler Jones, a spokesperson for New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, told Politico that a "handful" of migrant buses have arrived at New Jersey Transit train stations, which are acting as a "transit point" for the illegal immigrants before they head to New York City, their final destination.

New York City modeled its arrival restrictions after Chicago, which did the same following an influx of illegal immigrants. Chicago suburbs issued similar restrictions after the illegal immigrants were dropped off there rather than in the city. 

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