Over 100 migrants have been dropped off close to U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington over the Christmas weekend, immigrant assist teams mentioned Sunday, because the White House slammed Texas for sending the migrants.
Approximately 110-130 of the migrants in search of asylum within the United States, a lot of them households with kids, have been positioned on buses by Texas officers, mentioned Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, a aid company working with town of Washington, D.C.
She mentioned by telephone that assist teams had been knowledgeable of their journey and awaited their arrival late on Saturday handy out blankets after which transport them to a church within the metropolis’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Aides to Texas Governor Greg Abbott weren’t obtainable to touch upon whether or not the state coordinated their transportation.
The Republican governor, a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s immigration insurance policies, and another Republican governors have been transporting migrants to Democratic-controlled cities within the northern United States.
Texas has bused 1000’s of migrants to Washington, New York City and Chicago, in what some critics have labeled a stunt amid a nationwide debate over the excessive ranges of immigrant arrivals alongside the U.S. southern border.
Laborde mentioned that previously week, 9 busloads of migrants have been dropped off in Washington.
“Lately, what we’ve been seeing is an increase in people from Ecuador and Colombia,” Laborde mentioned. Previously, many Venezuelans had been arriving by bus, she added.
Many of the newest arrivals, Laborde mentioned, are actually making an attempt to go to New York or New Jersey the place they’ve kinfolk or different neighborhood help.
White House slams Texas
Meanwhile, the White House on Monday accused Texas Governor Greg Abbott of endangering lives after busloads of migrants on a chilly Christmas Eve.
The Republican Abbott, a vocal critic of Biden administration immigration insurance policies, has not acknowledged the Christmas Eve drop and his workplace has not claimed duty.
“Governor Abbott abandoned children on the side of the road in below freezing temperatures on Christmas Eve without coordinating with any Federal or local authorities,” White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan mentioned in a press release.
“The political games accomplish nothing and only put lives in danger,” Hasan added.
Hasan mentioned the Biden administration was prepared to work with Democrats and Republicans on options to the migrant subject.
Amy Fischer, an organizer with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, advised NPR the migrants have been instantly transferred onto city-provided buses in Washington and moved to a church that distributed scorching meals and garments.
Claudia Tristán, a co-organizer with the identical group, advised Reuters on Monday that just about all of the migrants dropped close to the vp’s residence have been already on their solution to kinfolk and buddies within the United States.
In a letter to Biden on Dec. 20, Abbott mentioned the state was overburdened with 1000’s of males, ladies and youngsters crossing into Texas daily who threat freezing to loss of life on metropolis streets.
Hidalgo County, Texas, Judge Richard Cortez on Monday advised CNN that localities in Texas like his have been overwhelmed by the variety of immigrants and couldn’t accommodate all of them.
“Busing immigrants out of this area in a way helps us… but it’s not a solution to the problem,” mentioned Cortez, whose county borders Mexico.
