Fifth bus carrying migrants sent from Texas arrives in downtown LA
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Another bus with migrants onboard arrived in downtown Los Angeles from Texas on Saturday, the fifth to arrive here since June 14, Mayor Karen Bass' office announced.
The bus arrived at Union Station around 11:30 a.m., the mayor's office said.
"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," read a statement from the mayor's office. "As we have before, when we became aware of the bus [Friday,] we activated our plan."
According to Fermin Vasquez, the deputy communications manager for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), the bus arrived from Brownsville, Texas, and had 44 migrants onboard from Mexico, Colombia, China, Haiti, Honduras, Peru and Venezuela. Fourteen of them are children between 2 to 14 years old.
They were taken to Cathedral High School in Chinatown where they were evaluated for any medical issues, given food and were given access to any resources needed. The group said most of the migrants have since been reunited with family.
CHIRLA emphasized that a lot of the migrants have spoken with officials and have already established asylum cases.
CHIRLA Executive Director Angelica Salas released a statement Saturday, questioning the actions of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
"Actions ordered by Texas Governor Abbott against migrants and refugees are outrageous, if not criminal," she said. "We condemn the dehumanization of migrants and refugees anywhere and we remind Governor Abbott that every life is precious and protected under the United Nation's Human Rights Charter.
Operation Lone Star is a questionable initiative fueled by xenophobia and void of human decency. But the line has been crossed long ago by this governor with the most recent example being the busing of thousands of asylum seekers to various other states, including Los Angeles, California."
Before Saturday's bus arrived, the most recent arrival took place Tuesday, when a bus of migrants that also originated in Brownsville, Texas arrived at Union Station.
The L.A. Welcome Collective said those immigrants were from Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela.
The group, which is composed of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Central American Resource Center-Los Angeles, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Esperanza Immigration Rights Project, and Immigrant Defenders Law Center, issued a statement Wednesday.
"The L.A. Welcomes Collective reiterates our commitment to work hand in hand with our City of Los Angeles and County of Los Angeles partners to receive and guide asylum seekers when they arrive," the L.A. Welcome Collective said. "As a united front, we hope to serve as a beacon of hope to those seeking safe harbor as well as advocate for every human being be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of immigration status. Our purpose as non- profit organizations serving immigrants for decades is to help each Angeleno be fully integrated into society. We do not want to play politics with people's lives. We will strive to do everything possible to maximize our limited resources until the busing of migrants stops or until we as a nation find a way to fix and improve a broken immigration system."
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles issued the following statement Saturday afternoon in response to the latest arrival:
"... Our Archdiocese was founded by immigrants and we will continue to welcome our migrant brothers and sisters with open arms. We are honored to take part in the LA Welcomes Collective and the vital work being undertaken by each of our partner organizations. We are called to show compassion through accompaniment and pastoral care. As a united front, we hope to serve as a beacon of hope to those seeking safe harbor as well as advocate for every human being to be treated with dignity and respect. Our work to help migrants is that of mercy, emulating the love of God for his people."
Abbott recently proclaimed his state's border region "overrun" and hinted that more shipments of immigrants could follow.
"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. "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."
City News Service, Inc. contributed to this report.
