Immigration
"Respect and Dignity": Los Angeles welcomes second bus of migrants sent from Texas
Los Angeles city officials were notified of the bus on Friday and began working to make plans to accommodate the migrants with the help of faith-based organizations and non-profit groups
July 4, 2023 7:32am
Updated: July 4, 2023 7:32am
A bus carrying 41 migrants from a Texas border city arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday, making it the second bus in two weeks, authorities said.
The bus sent from Brownsville, Texas arrived at Los Angeles’ Union Station at around 12:40 p.m. It was carrying 41 undocumented migrants from Belize, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The group included 11 minors.
The migrants were moved to a temporary intake center at the nearby St. Anthony Croatian Catholic Church after they arrived, where they received legal orientation and were given water, food, and clothing, said Angelica Salas, executive director for the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles city officials were notified of the bus on Friday and began working to make plans to accommodate the migrants with the help of faith-based organizations and non-profit groups, said a spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass, Zach Seidl, in a statement.
“The City of Los Angeles believes in treating everyone with respect and dignity and will do so,” Seidl said.
The bus comes two weeks after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent the first bus of migrants from Texas to Southern California to protest against federal immigration policies.
“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 press release on June 14.
Abbott has bused more than 23,000 migrants from Texas cities to Democratic cities around the country since Spring 2022, including New York City, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, and Denver, according to a tweet by the Texas governor.
"We are still putting together all the details about this group of asylum seekers on the Brownsville bus, but if Los Angeles is their last destination, we will ensure this is the place where they get a genuine and humane reception," Salas told Fox 11.
