Bus carrying 40 migrants from Texas arrives in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES - Another bus from Texas carrying migrants arrived at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles Thursday -- the eighth such arrival since June 14, Mayor Karen Bass' office and the L.A. Welcomes Collective said.

The bus, with 40 migrants from Brownsville, Texas, aboard, arrived about 11:08 a.m. Thursday, Bass' office said.

It contained 14 families, including 12 children ranging in age from 9 months to 17 years old, according to the collective, which is an organization of immigrant-rights workers, faith organizations and providers that works with the city and county of Los Angeles.

Of the total number arrivals Thursday, the largest group -- about 29 -- came from Venezuela, while others came from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, the collective said.

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"One bus with migrants on board from Texas arrived around 11:08 a.m. PT today at Union Station," Bass spokesman Zach Seidl said in a statement Thursday. "This is the eighth bus that has arrived. 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."

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA), a member of the collective, said almost all the asylum seekers have relatives, loved ones or sponsors in California.

A total of 323 asylum seekers from Texas have now arrived in Los Angeles since June 14, when the first bus dispatched by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott arrived at Union Station.

"Migrants were immediately taken to a receiving site in Chinatown where they were offered urgent humanitarian support services, including food, clothing, hygiene kits, health checkups and legal immigration orientations," according to a Thursday statement from CHIRLA. "The collective also facilitated reunions with family members, loved ones and sponsors residing in the region."

Martha Arevalo, executive director of Central American Resource Center, issued a statement Thursday saying, "As part of the Los Angeles Welcomes Collective, CARECEN Los Angeles reaffirms its dedication to warmly receive migrants with love and dignity."

"We take pride in persistently answering the call to uphold what is just, especially for vulnerable families who have undergone trauma, and forced displacement, and seek refuge," Arevalo added.

Michael P. Donaldson, senior director for the Office of Life, Justice and Peace with Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said the Catholic church "embraces and supports migrants and refugees arriving in Los Angeles."

Previous buses from Texas arrived in Los Angeles on June 14, and throughout July.

Abbott has been orchestrating the buses from Brownsville to California, saying Texas' border region is "overwhelmed" by immigrants crossing the Mexican border.

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"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."

On Friday, the L.A. City Council's Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee will deliberate motions calling for the city attorney's office to investigate and report whether human trafficking or any crime was committed on or before June 14, when Abbott sent 42 immigrants to L.A.

In addition, the panel will consider a report and resolution calling for financial, humanitarian and legal aid from the federal, state and county governments.