Another bus carrying migrants from Texas arrived in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, the fifth to arrive here since June 14, Mayor Karen Bass’s office announced.
“A bus with immigrants on board from Texas arrived at Union Station at around 11:30 am (PST) today,” the mayor’s office said. “The city has continued to work with city, county departments and a coalition of nonprofit organizations, as well as our faith-based partners, to execute a plan established earlier this year. As we have done before, when we noticed the bus yesterday, we activated our plan.”
No further information on the latest arrivals was immediately available.
Before the Saturday bus arrived, the most recent arrival took place on Tuesday, when a migrant bus originating in Brownsville, Texas, arrived at Union Station.
The Los Angeles Welcome Collective said those immigrants were from Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela.
The group, which is made up of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Centro American Resource Center-Los Angeles, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Esperanza Immigration Rights Project and Immigrant Defenders Law Center, released a statement Wednesday.
“LA Welcomes Collective reiterates our commitment to work hand in hand with our partners in the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County to receive and guide asylum seekers when they arrive,” said LA Welcome Collective. “As a united front, we look forward to serving as a beacon of hope for those seeking safe harbor, as well as advocating that every human being be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of immigration status. Our purpose as nonprofit organizations serving immigrants for decades is to help every Angeleno fully integrate into society. We do not want to play politics with people’s lives. We will strive to do everything we can to maximize our limited resources until the transportation of migrants stops or until we as a nation find a way to fix and improve a broken immigration system.”
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles issued the following statement Saturday afternoon in response to the latest arrival:
“`…Our Archdiocese was founded by immigrants and we will continue to welcome our migrant brothers and sisters with open arms. We are honored to be involved in the LA Welcomes Collective and the vital work being done by each of our partner organizations. We are called to show compassion through accompaniment and pastoral care. As a united front, we look forward to serving as a beacon of hope for those seeking a safe haven, as well as advocating that every human being be treated with dignity and respect. Our work to help migrants is that of mercy, emulating God’s love for his people.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently proclaimed that his state’s border region is “overrun” and hinted that more immigrant shipments could follow.
“Small Texas border towns continue to be overwhelmed and overrun by thousands of people illegally crossing into Texas from Mexico due to President Biden’s refusal to secure the border,” Abbott said in a statement after the first bus arrived. “Los Angeles is a major city that migrants are looking to go to, particularly now that city leaders have 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 to provide this much-needed relief until he takes the lead in doing his job and securing the border.”
In June, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a motion directing the city to draft a “Sanctuary City” ordinance that, once passed, would prohibit city resources, property or personnel from being used for any federal immigration application.
