6th bus of migrants arrives in Philadelphia 

A sixth bus transporting undocumented migrants from the border region in Texas arrived in Philadelphia on Monday morning. 

The bus carrying about 52 migrants seeking asylum arrived at 30th Street Station just before 6 a.m. Around 32 of the migrants were then placed on a SEPTA bus and taken to an intake facility in North Philadelphia. 

Philadelphia welcomed its first busload carrying 29 undocumented migrants on Wednesday, November 16. A second bus arrived on Monday, November 21 with 46 people, and two more buses transporting 71 individuals arrived on Friday, November 25. Last Wednesday, 49 migrants coming from Del Rio Texas arrived in Philadelphia. 

The migrants mostly come from Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Panama, Peru, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic. All migrants were screened by the Customs and Border Patrol in Texas before being sent to Philadelphia. 

Each time, volunteer groups were waiting for the migrants' arrival and sent them to intake centers to help them go through the asylum-seeking process. 

Some of the volunteers said that many of the migrants, including children, did not arrive in good health because they hadn’t eaten in days. Others arrived without shoes on their feet. 

While most of the migrants are not expected to stay in Philadelphia for the long term, city officials said they will support them and raise funds to get them to their final destinations.

According to Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management, Texas officials are refusing to coordinate with them about the arrival of the buses. The mayor’s office has called the lack of cooperation with Texas “disappointing and irresponsible.”

Texas has sent more than 300 busloads of migrants to northern cities since the Spring, including New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C.