Austin, TX — Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Monday that he plans to impose a 100% tariff on anyone moving to Texas from New York City once voting ends in the city’s mayoral election.
The statement, made on X (formerly Twitter), comes as New Yorkers prepare to vote in a highly watched race between Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani and former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“After the polls close tomorrow night, I will impose a 100% tariff on anyone moving to Texas from NYC,” Abbott wrote.
However, legal experts quickly pointed out that tariff powers rest exclusively with the federal government, not with individual states — making Abbott’s proposal symbolic or legally unenforceable.
Abbott’s comments came just hours after President Donald Trump said he would likely halt most federal funding to New York if Mamdani wins the mayoral race.
“It can only get worse with a communist at the helm, and I don’t want to send, as president, good money after bad,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “It is my obligation to run the nation, and it is my strong conviction that New York City will be a complete and total economic and social disaster should Mamdani win.”
Trump added that while he would prefer a capable Democrat over Mamdani, he considers the progressive candidate “a disaster in waiting.”
“He was nothing as an assemblyman — ranked at the bottom of the class — and as mayor of, potentially, again, the greatest city in the world, HE HAS NO CHANCE to bring it back to its former glory!” Trump wrote.
Abbott’s post drew immediate backlash from critics who accused him of political grandstanding ahead of the 2026 gubernatorial race. Legal analysts say any attempt to tax or tariff interstate migration would almost certainly violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Neither Abbott’s office nor the Trump campaign responded to requests for clarification on whether the proposed measures were intended as serious policy or political messaging.
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