A group of 41 immigrants, including 11 children, arrived at St. Anthony’s Croatian Church Saturday afternoon after a 30-hour bus ride from Brownsville, Texas.
“We organized ourselves, we received them, right now some of them are reunited with family as they begin their new journey and their new life here in the United States,” said Angélica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Immigrant Human Rights.
The LA Welcomes Collective, which includes city officials, community organizations and local non-profit groups, provided food and water along with medical and mental health services to asylum seekers from eight countries, including Belize, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
“I think these people come from incredibly difficult situations,” said Martha Arévalo, Executive Director of the Central America Resource Center.
“They are people who in many cases have made very, very long trips. Trips that can be traumatic. And then getting on a bus for 30 hours, this is the end of that journey, so we’re just trying to make sure we’re as helpful as possible,” said Zach Seidler, deputy director of communications for the mayor’s office.
The City says they were never formally notified that the bus was on the way, but moved quickly after finding out on Friday.
“I think that as a country and this built by immigrants, which is created by immigrants, we have to make sure that in these difficult times, we live according to our principles and our values,” Arévalo said.
This marks the second bus of migrants to arrive from Texas to Los Angeles in the past two weeks.
Assemblyman Miguel Santiago wrote on Twitter Saturday that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott “should be ashamed of himself! He failed the basic test of humanity.”
As families are reunited with relatives behind the church doors, the Collective hopes it can help them get the fresh start they’ve been looking for.
“Each case is different, but they will go through their process: the immigration process. People, I am sure that some people will be able to stay through the different programs that exist and maybe some people will not be able to stay, depending on their case,” Arévalo said.
