A bus carrying migrants from a Texas border city arrived in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday for the second time in less than three weeks.
The office of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was not formally notified but became aware on Friday of the bus dispatched from Brownsville, Texas, to L.A. Union Station, Bass spokesperson Zach Seidl said in a statement.
‘The City of Los Angeles believes in treating everyone with respect and dignity and will do so,’ he said.
The bus arrived around 12:40pm, and the 41 asylum-seekers on board were welcomed by a collective of faith and immigrant rights groups.
Eleven children were also on the bus, according to a statement by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.
The asylum seekers came from Cuba, Belize, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
A bus carrying migrants from Texas is seen arriving at a church in Los Angeles
Their bus from Brownsville, Texas, was seen arriving at Union Station in Los Angeles
The migrants were directed inside the church where they received food, water and advice
They received water, food, clothing and initial legal immigration assistance at St. Anthony’s Croatian Parish Center and church.
Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesperson for the coalition, said the group ‘was less stressed and less chaotic than the previous time.’ He said most were picked up by family in the area and appeared to have had sandwiches and water, unlike the first time.
Los Angeles was not the final destination for six people who needed to fly to Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco and Oakland, he said.
The city received a bus carrying 42 migrants from Texas on June 14. Many were from Latin American countries, including Honduras and Venezuela, and they were not provided with water or food.
The group received water, food, clothing and initial legal immigration assistance at St. Anthony’s Croatian Parish Center and church
After arriving at Union Station, the migrants boarded local buses to go to the church
The migrants are seen arriving at a church in Los Angeles following their arrival in the city
Officials and volunteers deliver diapers, supplies and toys to the St. Anthony Croatian Catholic Church where migrants have been transported in Los Angeles
Bass said at the time that the city would not be swayed by ‘petty politicians playing with human lives.’
Texas has bussed more than 21,600 migrants out of state since last spring, Abbott’s office said.
Last month, LA Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, condemned the transfer as ‘a despicable stunt that Republican Governors have grown so fond of.’
‘This did not catch us off guard, nor will it intimidate us,’ Bass said in a statement last month.
‘Los Angeles is not a city motivated by hate or fear and we absolutely will not be swayed or moved by petty politicians playing with human lives.’
Border Patrol agents escort migrants onto a bus to be taken to a processing facility to begin their asylum-seeking process in Eagle Pass, Texas last week
Newly-arrived migrants wait to be taken by Border Patrol to a processing facility
Migrants are seen waiting to be taken by Border Patrol to a processing facility to begin their asylum-seeking process in Eagle Pass, Texas on June 25
A second group of migrants was bused from Texas to Los Angeles on Saturday and dropped off at downtown’s Union Station
Officials and volunteers deliver diapers, supplies and toys to the St. Anthony Croatian Catholic Church where migrants had been transported
Los Angeles County Public Health Emergency Operations officials leave St. Anthony’s Croatian Catholic Church after evaluating newly arrived migrants
The also city received a bus carrying 42 migrants from Texas on June 14. Pictured last month, Angelica Salas, executive director of Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), speaks to the media outside St. Anthony Croatian Catholic Church
People seeking asylum speak with law enforcement after illegally crossing the Rio Grande into the US at Eagle Pass, Texas, last month
Jorge Mario Cabrera of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, who spoke to several migrants, said they had spent 23 hours on a bus, some without food or water. One migrant had an immigration appointment in New York
‘They are being fed; they’re taking shelters; they’re talking to attorneys,’ said Cabrera.
‘These are migrants that have been allowed by the US to enter because they have credible fears. They have not yet received asylum.’
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he sent the bus to Los Angeles because California had declared itself a ‘sanctuary’ for immigrants, extending protections to people living in the country illegally.
It was unclear if Abbott sent the latest bus.
Governor Abbott said in last month: ‘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.
Last month Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced he had dropped off the first bus load of migrants in LA after the Californian city declared itself a sanctuary for asylum seekers. It was unclear if Abbott sent the latest bus
The latest group were dropped off at LA ‘s Union Station this on Saturday (file photo)
Union Station in downtown Los Angeles is pictured, above
‘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 frontlines 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.’
Texas has bused more than 10,000 migrants to Washington D.C. since April 2022, over 8,200 migrants to New York City since August 2022, more than 2,600 migrants to Chicago since August 2022, more than 1,600 migrants to Philadelphia since November 2022, over 210 migrants to Denver since May 2023, and over 80 migrants to Los Angeles since June 14.
Earlier in June, the state of Florida picked up three dozen migrants in Texas and sent them by private jet to California’s state capital, catching shelters and aid workers in Sacramento by surprise.
Earlier this year, DeSantis sent two planes filled with migrants to ritzy Martha’s Vineyard island, off the coast of Massachusetts.
The migrant crossings come after Title 42 ended in May – causing an influx of people moving into the US over the border.
The Title 42 rules had been in place since March 2020.
The restrictions allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
U.S. authorities have unveiled strict new measures to replace Title 42, which crack down on illegal crossings while also setting up legal pathways for migrants who apply online, seek a sponsor and undergo background checks.
Over the last year, Republican governors in Texas and Florida have been busing and flying migrants to Democratic strongholds and so-called Sanctuary Cities including New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C., without advance warning
The Biden administration has opened up new ways for migrants to enter the U.S. legally as part of a broader strategy to discourage people from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.
Migrants waiting in Mexico can apply for U.S. entry on a smartphone app and later request asylum, but slots on the app fill up quickly.
Under another Biden program, Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans can request to enter the U.S. by air if they have U.S. sponsors.
But those routes do not provide the same benefits available to refugees or a direct path to permanent residence and eventual citizenship.
In April, the Biden administration said it aimed to admit 40,000 refugees from Latin America and the Caribbean in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, doubling a previous target.
As of May 31, about 3,400 had arrived, showing that the pace would need to greatly accelerate to reach that goal.
Some refugee backers are concerned the focus on Latin America could slow processing from other parts of the world, including refugees already waiting for approval.
The initiative under discussion would be a ‘Priority Two’ refugee program, the sources said, similar to one opened for Afghans in 2021. Such programs allow certain groups of people to apply for refugee status directly without needing a referral from the United Nations
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