Politics & Government
Dozens Of Migrants Dropped In Trenton Stayed, Mayor Says
Mayor Reed Gusciora has asked lawmakers to resolve the crisis or provide towns with resources to take care of humanitarian needs.
MERCER COUNTY, NJ - Busloads of migrants recently arrived at several New Jersey train stations and bus stops, including Trenton.
Several buses of migrants stopped in New Jersey over the past few days, in a bid to sidestep New York City’s recent order to limit arrivals.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams issued an executive order last week to limit when and how charter bus companies can drop off busloads of migrants.
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The order requires a 32-hour notice and a five-day-a-week schedule. But rather than comply the buses from Texas started dropping off migrants in New Jersey communities.
Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora said that on Saturday morning four buses of 163 migrants arrived at the Trenton Transit Center between 4 a.m. - 7 a.m.
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“We had no advanced warning. Unfortunately, when a team from our Health Department as well as Trenton PD went to the Transit Center, the migrants had already left,” Gusciora said.
He further said that 21 of them stayed back in the Trenton area.
“I’m further told that 21 migrants stayed back claiming to be waiting to be picked by Trenton families,” Gusciora said.
Speaking on Trenton’s position on the migrant buses coming to NJ, Gusciora said,
“We are a small city with limited resources. We are urging Congress to go back to work to resolve the immigration issue (as they once did in the 1980s with a bipartisan package, Simpson-Mazzolli, which was signed by President Reagan) or give cities the resources to take care of humanitarian needs.”
At an event on Wednesday, NJ Gov. Phil Murphy confirmed that some undocumented immigrants were picked up by family members in NJ, but the majority proceeded to NYC.
In townships like Edison, Mayor Sam Joshi said a migrant bus was sent back, unsure whether it continued on to NYC to back to the U.S.-Mexico border.
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