A third bus of illegal immigrants from Texas arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday, carrying 35 migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border sent by Gov. Greg Abbott amid a political battle between the two states.
Arriving downtown after a 30-hour journey, the illegal immigrants were met by paramedics from the Los Angeles Fire Department and representatives from the aid groups.
Volunteers with the L.A. Welcomes Collective, a network of nonprofit, faith, and immigrant rights groups, were waiting with a representative from the mayor’s office to greet the bus at Union Station when it arrived shortly before 1 p.m. They were alerted that the bus had left the border city of Brownsville early Wednesday.
They were then taken on a bright green DASH bus to St. Anthony’s Croatian Catholic Church, where the Welcomes Collective set up a triage center for passengers arriving from Texas to reunite with family and access social services.
At the church, passengers disembarked with backpacks, a guitar, and water jugs. Some carried their children in their arms; others balanced tote bags on their shoulders.
Toczylowski’s organization and others in the collective offered the illegal immigrants food, clothing, and legal consultations upon their arrival at the church. There, passengers also reunited with family members from around Los Angeles.
“We are grateful to the City of Brownsville for sending information in advance about this bus so we can better prepare to welcome them,” Lindsay Toczylowski, executive director of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said in a statement. “We will continue to work with our community partners to receive migrants with dignity and ensure their legal needs are met.”
Mayor Karen Bass’s office said the city and county of Los Angeles have been working with the nonprofit coalition and faith partners according to a response plan put in place this year.
“As we have before, when we became aware of the bus yesterday, we activated our plan,” a spokesperson for Ms. Bass said in a statement.
Last month, Florida sent three dozen illegal immigrants from the U.S. southern border to California on private planes. All went willingly, disputing allegations by California officials that the individuals were coerced to travel under false pretenses.
Alecia Collins, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said in a statement that “through verbal and written consent, these volunteers indicated they wanted to go to California.” She also shared a video compilation showing people signing consent forms and thanking officials for treating them well.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta investigated their conditions and arrival in California from Florida.
“Today I met with over a dozen migrants who were brought to Sacramento by private plane, with no prior arrangement or care in place,” Mr. Bonta said in a statement. “We are investigating how these individuals were brought to California. We are also evaluating potential criminal or civil action against those who transported or arranged for the transport of these vulnerable immigrants.
The 118 illegal immigrants who have been sent to California are a small fraction of the 22,000 whom Texas has bused to Democrat-run cities, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, and Washington.
The first bus from Texas, carrying 41 illegal immigrants, arrived in Los Angeles. on July 1. Many illegal immigrants arriving in Texas prefer to go to New York and Washington.
Illegal immigrants who want to go into California mainly cross from Tijuana and into San Diego.
