Seventh bus carrying migrants sent from Texas arrives in downtown LA

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Another bus carrying migrants sent from Texas arrived in downtown Los Angeles on Friday afternoon, the seventh to arrive in the city since June 14, officials said.

The bus arrived at Union Station around 12:15 p.m., according to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. Onboard were 32 adults and 17 children, ranging in ages from 4 months old to 16 years old, the nonprofit said in a statement. Of the total 49 bus riders, 25 were female and 24 were male.

The migrants' countries of origin included Brazil, Cameroon, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico and Venezuela, according to CHIRLA.

Upon arrival at Union Station, migrants were immediately transported to the receiving center at nearby St. Anthony's Croatian Church, where they met volunteers and staff who provided urgent humanitarian support services such as food, water, clothing, hygiene kits, diapers, toys, health checks and legal immigration orientations.

"Migrants whose final destination is Los Angeles will be reunited with their loved ones, family members, or sponsors the same day," CHIRLA said in a statement. "Others will be assisted with travel plans to reach their final destinations."

Previous buses from Texas arrived in Los Angeles on June 14, and between July 1-27.

A spokesperson for L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement that the city "has continued to work with City Departments, the County, and a coalition of nonprofit organizations, in addition to our faith partners, to execute a plan set in place earlier this year."

"As we have before, when we became aware of the bus yesterday, we activated our plan," said Zach Seidl, a deputy mayor of communications.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been orchestrating the sending of migrants from Brownsville, Texas, to California, claiming the state's border region is overwhelmed by immigrants crossing the Mexican border. Although the bus that arrived Friday was believed to be from Brownsville, whether Abbott's office was involved in sending it was not immediately confirmed.

"Texas' small border towns remain overwhelmed and overrun by the thousands of people illegally crossing into Texas from Mexico because of President Biden's refusal to secure the border," Abbott said in a statement after the first bus arrived in Los Angeles in June. "Los Angeles is a major city that migrants seek to go to, particularly now that its city leaders approved its self-declared sanctuary city status. Our border communities are on the front lines of President Biden's border crisis, and Texas will continue providing this much-needed relief until he steps up to do his job and secure the border."

A total of 283 asylum-seekers have arrived to the city of Los Angeles to date, CHIRLA said.

City News Service contributed to this report.