N.Y.C. Mayor Adams Condemns Texas Gov. Abbott for Busing Migrants to His City: 'Disgusting'

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is condemning Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for busing migrants from the Lone Star State to the Big Apple.

"This is horrific, when you think about what the governor is doing," Adams said early Sunday morning at New York City's Port Authority Bus Terminal, where 14 people were dropped off after traveling three days.

The mayor added that some of the migrants had no choice but to travel to New York. "Some of the families are on the bus that wanted to go to other locations, and they were not allowed to do so. They were forced on the bus," he said, according to Politico. "Our goal is to immediately find out each family's needs and give them the assistance they want."

Abbott, who is running for reelection this year, announced Friday that he's making New York City a destination for migrants arriving in Texas and blamed President Joe Biden for his "refusal to acknowledge the crisis caused by his open border policies."

"In addition to Washington, D.C., New York City is the ideal destination for these migrants, who can receive the abundance of city services and housing that Mayor Eric Adams has boasted about within the sanctuary city. I hope he follows through on his promise of welcoming all migrants with open arms so that our overrun and overwhelmed border towns can find relief."

Abbott ordered the Texas Division of Emergency Management to bus migrants to the nation's capital in April. He'd previously denied sending migrants to New York City, Politico and New York's Daily News reported, though the city estimates that since May 4,000 asylum seekers have entered its shelter system.

"Governor Abbott is finally admitting to what we've known he's been doing all along. His continued use of human beings as political pawns is disgusting, and an embarrassing stain on the state of Texas," Adams' press secretary, Fabien Levy, told PEOPLE Friday in a statement. "New York will continue to welcome asylum seekers with open arms, as we have always have, but we are asking for resources to help do so. We need Washington, D.C.'s assistance in dealing with the cruel political games being played by inept politicians like the governor of Texas."

Abbott invited Adams and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to visit Texas' border with Mexico in an Aug. 1 letter, asking the leaders to "see firsthand the dire situation that only grows more urgent with each passing day."

Adams declined the invitation. "Instead of a photo-op at the border, we hope Governor Abbott will focus his energy and resources on providing support and resources to asylum seekers in Texas as we have been hard at work doing in New York City," Levy said in a written statement, the Daily News reported.

The Legal Aid Society, a social justice law firm in New York City, and the Coalition for the Homeless, which provides food and shelter for the homeless there, joined Adams in condemning the Texas governor for bussing migrants across the country.

"Governor Abbott is shamelessly exploiting these migrants — human beings who have endured immense suffering in their home countries and on the journey to the United States, seeking safe haven and a better life — to serve some myopic political purpose," the statement says.

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The organizations called for New York City to provide beds and critical services to those in need "regardless of who these people are, where they are from, or for what cynical reason they are being sent here."

"It is unimaginable what the governor of Texas has done, when you think about this country, a country that has always been open to those who were fleeing persecution," Adams said Sunday, according to Politico. "We've always welcomed them. And this governor is not doing that in Texas. But we are going to set the right tone of being here for these families."