Bus carrying migrants from Texas arrives in LA; 14th arrival since June

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Another bus carrying migrants from Texas arrived in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday, the 14th such arrival since June 14.

"One bus with migrants on board from Texas arrived around 9:10 a.m. at Union Station,'' according to a statement from Zach Seidl, Los Angeles deputy mayor of communications. "This is the fourteenth bus that has arrived. 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 [Monday], we activated our plan."

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights confirmed the arrival of the bus with 40 asylum seekers from El Salvador and Venezuela. There were 12 families on the bus, including 14 children.

CHIRLA is a member of the L.A. Welcomes Collective, which is a network of nonprofit, faith groups and city and county services that respond to the arrival of migrant buses.

"We focus on people, not drama or politics. Together, the city, county & nonprofits will continue to coordinate and support each other until our new neighbors feel they have an opportunity to start again,'' CHIRLA posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

According to city officials, Los Angeles has welcomed more than 500 migrants from Texas since the first bus arrived.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been orchestrating the trips under Operation Lone Star, saying Texas' border region is "overwhelmed'' by immigrants crossing the Mexican border. OLS is a joint operation between the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department along the southern border between Texas and Mexico.

Abbott says the operation is intended to counter the influx of immigrants, illegal drug trade and human smuggling. On X (formerly Twitter), Abbott said the operation as of Aug. 26 has resulted in more than 420,800 apprehensions, 33,600 criminal arrests, 30,500 felony charges, 436 million fentanyl doses seized and 33,230 migrants bused to cities established as "Sanctuary Cities.''

Abbott added, "Texas secures the border in Pres. (Joe) Biden's absence.''

"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,'' he added.

Mayor Karen Bass has complained that Abbott's office does not share enough information with Los Angeles about the shipments. She told KNX that if Abbott's concerns and actions were legitimate and sincere, then "someone in the government and Texas would notify us and coordinate with us.''

"We hear about the buses headed our way when they're on the way. We have no idea who's going to be on the bus, how many people it is or what condition they're going to be in when they get here,'' she said. "Sometimes they haven't had any food, barely had enough water.''

The Los Angeles City Council approved a motion on June 9 seeking to formally establish the city as a sanctuary city.

Last month, the council approved a motion calling for the City Attorney's Office to investigate whether crimes were committed on or before June 14, when Abbott sent 42 migrants to Los Angeles in the first of the shipments.

Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.