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Attorneys for the 17 bus companies named in the suit and the New York Civil Liberties Union, which recently filed a brief in the case, argue that the law violates the migrants’ constitutional right to interstate travel. The city contends that the law is valid and a bar against others seeking to burden New York City.
The lawsuit takes aim at the bus companies but leaves out the state of Texas, whose Republican governor hired them – an omission that bus company attorneys have criticized in court. Hantman accused the city of “forum shopping” to avoid a federal trial with a state government. Banks has argued in legal filings that the state of Texas was not necessary to include in the case.