Migrants dropped off outside vice president's home on Christmas eve despite freezing temperatures

Several busloads carrying around 130 migrants were dropped off outside of Vice President Kamala Harris’ home in Washington D.C. on Christmas eve despite record-breaking cold temperatures. 

The undocumented migrants that arrived on the first two buses were taken to local shelters, according to an official. However, more buses full of migrants arrived later on that evening and had to be taken to a local church to seek shelter. 

Many of the migrants, who arrived only wearing T-shirts to D.C. despite cold weather, came from Ecuador, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Peru, and Colombia, according to Amy Fisher, a volunteer with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, which has been receiving migrants since the spring. 

Some of the buses were originally supposed to go to New York City but were diverted to the nation’s capital due to the severe weather conditions in the Big Apple. 

“The DC community has been welcoming buses from Texas anytime they’ve come since April. Christmas Eve and freezing cold weather is no different,” Fischer told CNN. “We are always here welcoming folks with open arms.”

It is unclear who is responsible for the most recent bus fulls of migrants arriving outside Harris’ house. However, at least four other buses have dropped off several undocumented migrants outside the vice president’s house between September and December. 

Authorities and non-profits believe Texas Governor Greg Abbott might be responsible for sending the migrants after his office claimed last week that it had sent more than 15,000 people to Washington, New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia since April. 

“They have been doing that for a few months now; it’s all for the spectacle,” said Madhi Bahl, an organizer with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network. “The cruelty is the point. It’s awful to use people in this manner, for political reasons.”

In September Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public emergency in the city over the thousands of migrants that continue to arrive in the city from Texas and Arizona.