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11th bus of migrants from Texas arrives in LA
Los Angeles Aug 30, 2023
Texas National Guard soldiers. | Screenshot from Texas Military Department via Gov. Greg Abbott on X
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Another bus carrying migrants from Texas arrived in Los Angeles Wednesday, the 11th such arrival since June 14, according to the L.A. Welcomes Collective and the mayor’s office.
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights confirmed the arrival of the bus with 35 asylum seekers from Guatemala, Honduras, Peru, Russia and Venezuela. CHIRLA is a member of the collective, which is a network of nonprofit, faith groups and city and county services that respond to the arrival of migrant buses.
The bus arrived at around 10:50 a.m., and included 21 adults and 14 children between the ages of 2 and 17.
“In Los Angeles, 35 asylum seekers sent from Brownsville, Texas, Wednesday, were shown compassion and treated with dignity, respect as they start their long journey to settle in our community,” CHIRLA posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The L.A. Welcomes Collective appreciates L.A. city, county and community partners for support.”
Zach Seidl, a spokesman for Mayor Karen Bass, confirmed the latest arrival in a statement.
“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,” Seidl said. “As we have before, when we became aware of the bus yesterday, we activated our plan.”
According to the mayor’s office, the city has welcomed a total of 435 migrants from Texas since the first bus arrived at Union Station in June.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been orchestrating the trips under Operation Lone Star, saying Texas’ border region is “overwhelmed” by immigrants crossing the Mexican border. OLS is a joint operation between the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department along the southern border between Texas and Mexico.
Abbott says the operation is intended to counter the influx of immigrants, illegal drug trade and human smuggling. On X, Abbott said the operation as of Aug. 26 has resulted in more than 420,800 apprehensions, 33,600 criminal arrests, 30,500 felony charges, 436 million fentanyl doses seized and 33,230 migrants bused to cities established as “Sanctuary Cities.”
Abbott added, “Texas secures the border in Pres. (Joe) Biden’s absence.”
“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 in Los Angeles in June.
“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,” he added.
On Wednesday afternoon, Bass told KNX News that if Abbott’s concerns and actions were legitimate and sincere then “someone in the government and Texas would notify us and coordinate with us.”
She said that’s not what’s happening.
“We hear about the buses headed our way when they’re on the way. We have no idea who’s going to be on the bus, how many people it is or what condition they’re going to be in when they get here,” Bass said. “Sometimes they haven’t had any food, barely had enough water.”
The Los Angeles City Council approved a motion on June 9 seeking to formally establish the city as a sanctuary city.
The L.A. City Council approved a motion Wednesday morning calling for the City Attorney’s Office to investigate whether crimes were committed on or before June 14, when Abbott sent 42 migrants to Los Angeles in the first of the shipments.
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