A group of migrant workers who arrived by bus in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday have been sent from Texas in a move that the city’s mayor called a “despicable stunt” by the Republican administration.
Forty-two individuals, including several children, were dropped off at Union Station around 5 p.m. and were being cared for by city agencies and charities, according to Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León’s office.
“They left yesterday, and it was 23 hours on the bus, and they didn’t have a chance to eat or have water,” said Jorge Mario Cabrera of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, who spoke to some of the migrants.
“They are being fed, they’re taking shelters, they’re talking to attorneys,” he said. “These are migrants who were allowed by the U.S. to enter because they have credible fears. They have not yet received asylum.”
Many of them are from Latin American countries, including Honduras and Venezuela, and one person had an immigration appointment in New York, he said.
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Mayor Karen Bass explained she had instructed city departments to prepare to accept migrants from outside the state, following GOP governors’ practice of sending asylum-seekers to Democratic states in recent months.
“This does not catch us off guard, nor does it intimidate us,” Bass said in a statement. “Los Angeles is not a city driven by hate or fear, and we will not be influenced or moved by petty politicians playing with human lives.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott stated that the migrants were sent to Los Angeles because California had declared itself a “sanctuary” for immigrants, providing protections for people living in the state illegally and allowing them to access certain state benefits.
“Our border communities are on the frontlines of President Biden’s border crisis, and Texas will continue providing this much-needed assistance until he steps up to do his job and secure the border,” Abbott said in a statement.
Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew groups of migrants from border states to Sacramento, California, at taxpayer expense. Last year, Florida flew 49 Venezuelans to the upscale Massachusetts area of Martha’s Vineyard.
The migrants in Los Angeles were receiving assistance at St. Anthony’s Croatian Catholic Church near downtown.
