LOS ANGELES — Another bus containing migrants from Texas arrived Saturday in downtown Los Angeles, the fifth to arrive here since June 14, Mayor Karen Bass’ office announced.
“One bus with migrants on board from Texas arrived around 11:30 AM PT today at Union Station,” the mayor’s office said. “The city has continued to work with city departments, the county, and a coalition of nonprofit organizations, in addition to our faith partners, to execute a plan set in place earlier this year. As we have before, when we became aware of the bus yesterday, we activated our plan.”
No further information was immediately available about the latest arrivals.
Before Saturday’s bus arrived, the most recent arrival took place Tuesday, when a bus of migrants that originated in Brownsville, Texas, arrived at Union Station.
The L.A. Welcome Collective said those immigrants were from Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Guetemala, Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela.
The group, which is composed of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Central American Resource Center-Los Angeles, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, Esperanza Immigration Rights Project, and Immigrant Defenders Law Center, issued a statement Wednesday.
“The L.A. Welcomes Collective reiterates our commitment to work hand in hand with our City of Los Angeles and County of Los Angeles partners to receive and guide asylum seekers when they arrive,” the L.A. Welcome Collective said. “As a united front, we hope to serve as a beacon of hope to those seeking safe harbor as well as advocate for every human being be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of immigration status. Our purpose as non-profit organizations serving immigrants for decades is to help each Angeleno be fully integrated into society. We do not want to play politics with people’s lives. We will strive to do everything possible to maximize our limited resources until the busing 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 take part in the LA Welcomes Collective and the vital work being undertaken by each of our partner organizations. We are called to show compassion through accompaniment and pastoral care. As a united front, we hope to serve as a beacon of hope to those seeking safe harbor as well as advocate for every human being to be treated with dignity and respect. Our work to help migrants is that of mercy, emulating the love of God for his people.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently proclaimed his state’s border region “overrun” and hinted that more shipments of immigrants could follow.
“Texas’ small border towns remain overwhelmed and overrun by the thousands of people illegally crossing into Texas from Mexico because of 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 seek to go to, particularly now that its city leaders 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 providing this much-needed relief until he steps up to do his job and secure the border.”
In June, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a motion directing the city to draft a “Sanctuary City” ordinance that, when passed, would prohibit any city resources, property or personnel from being utilized for any federal immigration enforcement.