Third bus of migrants arrives in downtown LA from Texas, officials say
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES -- About two weeks after a second bus of immigrants from Texas arrived in Los Angeles, the office of Mayor Karen Bass confirmed that a third bus dropped off more migrants in downtown on Thursday afternoon.
Thirty-five migrant passengers who were on the bus arrived at Union Station from Brownsville, Texas, about 12:40 p.m., officials said.
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Local government agencies have continued to work with "a coalition of nonprofit organizations, in addition to our faith partners, to execute a plan set in place earlier this year," Zach Seidl, a spokesman for Bass, said in a statement. "As we have before, when we became aware of the bus yesterday, we activated our plan."
The L.A. Welcomes Collective, an nonprofit group, coordinated with the city and county of Los Angeles to respond to the arrival. The nonprofit is a network of advocates for immigrant rights, immigration legal services providers, and faith organizations.
The migrants were offered "limited support services, including food, clothing, and legal immigration consultations upon arrival," the L.A. Welcomes Collective said. The group also worked to facilitate family reunions with loved ones residing in the region.
"As an Immigrant rights organization advocating for humane and compassionate integration of migrants to our society, we know how important it is for recently arrived asylum seekers to encounter humanitarian services, veritable information about immigration laws, and coordination between different entities, in the city that receives them," said Gloria Cruz, policy and advocacy director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. "As we have said before, regardless of where they come from, mode of transportation, or intent, we will make every effort to maximize our limited resources to receive asylum seekers with dignity and respect."
On July 1, a bus carrying migrants from a Texas border city also arrived in downtown L.A. Forty-one asylum-seekers were on that bus, including 11 children, according to a statement by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.
July 3, 2023: Another bus carrying migrants arrives in LA from Texas
On June 14, Los Angeles received a bus carrying 42 migrants from Texas. Many were from Latin American countries, including Honduras and Venezuela, and they were not provided with water or food.
Bass said at the time that the city would not be swayed by "petty politicians playing with human lives."
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he sent that bus to Los Angeles because California had declared itself a "sanctuary" for immigrants, extending protections to people living in the country illegally.
Earlier in June, the state of Florida picked up three dozen migrants in Texas and sent them by private jet to California's capital, catching shelters and aid workers in Sacramento by surprise.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
