Salas is the executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. She knew that her city could be the next location for Gov. Greg Abbott's much-maligned political stunt of busing migrants from Texas to cities in other states.
“We have to be prepared, and we have to have an organized way by which to receive these individuals, many of whom are children, in order for us not to put people in peril,” she recalled thinking to herself that day.
Sure enough, hundreds of migrants would soon be sent from Texas to the City of Angels.
Since last year, Abbott has broadcast efforts to bus migrants to liberal-led areas across the country. He recently bragged on social media that the number of sanctuary city-bound immigrants had surpassed 36,000, including more than 530 people who'd been carted to LA.
Abbott insists that the busing is necessary because of a lack of federal action. He’s pointed to Texas county officials who say that they’re overwhelmed by the number of immigrants streaming in.Texas has bused over 36,000 migrants to sanctuary cities to provide relief to overwhelmed Texas border towns:
— Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) September 9, 2023
➡️ Over 11,400 to DC
➡️ Over 13,700 to NYC
➡️ Over 7,200 to Chicago
➡️ Over 2,600 to Philadelphia
➡️ Over 1,100 to Denver
➡️ Over 530 to LA
But civil rights groups have blasted the Lone Star governor for what they view as an inhumane act of political theater.
CHIRLA developed an emergency operation to receive Texas-bused migrants, some of whom don’t have any local contacts when they arrive, Salas said.
There is very little notice that a bus is en route, she added. Sometimes they’ll be lucky to have 24 hours to prepare; Abbott’s plan is steeped in “randomness and chaos.”
Salas said one bus will hold an average of 45 people, many of them children and even some elderly folks pushing 80. Certain migrants have been very sick and have endured trauma.
To Salas, it was “extremely cruel” for Texas to send more than three dozen migrants to LA last month as Southern California was battered by Tropical Storm Hilary.
“They're just very vulnerable human beings who are trying to get to their loved ones and to safety.” – Angelica Salas, CHIRLA
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Fewer than 200 of the roughly 530 immigrants sent to LA so far had intended for that city to be their final destination, Salas told the Observer last week. CHIRLA works to help them get to their intended locale, including cities like San Francisco and San Diego or states like Colorado, Nevada and Utah.
“None of the people on the bus realize that they are part of a ‘political protest,’ if he wants to call it that. They don't know,” Salas said. “They're just very vulnerable human beings who are trying to get to their loved ones and to safety.”
In June, dozens of migrants arrived in Los Angeles after reportedly spending 23 hours on a bus without food or water, one CHIRLA representative told reporters at the time.
Abbott’s office didn’t return a request for comment, but a spokesperson told The Guardian this summer that every bus is “stocked with food and water and makes stops along the trip to refuel and switch drivers.
“Migrants are allowed to purchase any needed provisions or disembark at any of these stops, as they have been processed and released by the federal government,” the spokesperson said, adding that the state will continue the bus trips “to provide relief to our overwhelmed border towns.”
Philadelphia is another city that has witnessed an influx of migrants from Texas. Since November, officials there have counted nearly 2,500 asylum seekers and 60 buses, a spokesperson for the city told the Observer via email last week. Arrivals frequently occur without any advance notice or coordination by Texas officials.
Philly-bound migrants are welcomed by the city’s public health department and the offices of immigrant affairs and emergency management, the spokesperson continued. Nonprofit partners and local hospitals are also involved and offer services such as:
- "Emergency health screening,
- Temporary respite,
- Food and water,
- Legal consultation and orientation,
- Relocation support to other destinations,
- Social services,
- Case management,
- On-site language interpretation."
“Philadelphians recognize the arrival of asylum seekers as a strength,” the spokesperson added. “That is why countless residents and community partners have continued to come forward generously and compassionately to offer a helping hand since the first bus arrived in Philadelphia last fall.”
Abbott has also boasted of sending more than 1,100 people to Denver, where our sister publication, Westword, reported that the number of migrants living there has risen, likely in part because of Texas’ buses.
Denver would usually encounter one bus per week, but that number has recently tripled.
"The bus coming from Texas, I feel like because that's been more consistent and happening more often, maybe we see the increase," the leader of a Denver nonprofit told Westword. "And then families with children, you don't have one individual, you usually have four, five, six people to a family. It's not abundant, but if you have three families, that's 18 people that are staying."
New York City, meanwhile, has seen more than 13,700 migrants, according to Abbott’s recent estimate.
Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, echoed other advocates’ claims of the bus effort being uncoordinated, telling the Observer that many of his city’s arrivals didn’t want to come to New York. Some immigrants even intended to go to different parts of Texas, where they had family and friends.
“Governor Abbott continues to be a disingenuous xenophobe and bigot who is preying on individuals seeking refuge and safety in the United States and seeking asylum, which is their legal right based on U.S. law and international law,” he said. “I just feel bad for our siblings in Texas who have to deal with a person like that day in and day out.”
Awawdeh said that the people who step off the bus in New York want to ensure they’re following the process and not damaging their immigration cases. After getting situated, they seek to apply for work authorization so they can be self-sufficient and provide for their families.
No one usually flees their home country because they feel safe, he said.
“I think that that's the piece that people need to really sit on right now, is like: What would force you to leave your home?” Awawdeh continued. “The only reason why you would leave is if you feel unsafe, or you feel that your life is threatened, and that you need to do this arduous journey to support yourself and your family — to be able to literally live your life.”
