A bus carrying migrants from a Texas border city arrived in downtown Los Angeles Saturday for the second time in less than three weeks.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ office was not formally notified but learned Friday of the bus sent from Brownsville, Texas to LA Union Station, Bass spokesman 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 12:40 pm, and the 41 asylum seekers on board were met by a collective of immigrant rights and religious groups. Eleven children were on the bus, according to a statement from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.
The asylum seekers came from Cuba, Belize, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua and Venezuela. They received water, food, clothing and initial immigration legal assistance at the Croatian Parish Center in San Antonio and at the church.
Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesman for the coalition, said the group “was less stressed and less chaotic than last time.” He said most were picked up by relatives in the area and appeared to have had snacks and water, unlike the first time.
Los Angeles was not the final destination for six people who had to fly to Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco and Oakland, he said.
The city received a bus with 42 migrants from Texas on June 14. Many came from Latin American countries, including Honduras and Venezuela, and were not provided with water or food.
Bass said then that the city would not be influenced by “petty politicians who play with human lives.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he had 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 not clear if Abbott had sent the last bus. A phone message to his office was not immediately returned.
In early June, the state of Florida picked up three dozen immigrants in Texas and sent them by private plane to the California capital, catching shelters and aid workers in Sacramento by surprise.
