This image provided by WJLA shows migrant families as they get on to a bus to move them from near the Vice President’s residence to an area church after they arrived in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. Local organizers in Washington say three buses of recent migrant families arrived from Texas near the house in record-setting cold on Christmas Eve. Texas authorities haven’t confirmed their involvement.
WJLA via AP
Three buses of recent migrant families arrived from Texas near the house of Vice President Kamala Harris within the record-setting cold on Christmas Eve.
Texas authorities haven’t confirmed their involvement, however the bus dropoffs are in keeping with previous actions by border-state governors calling attention to the Biden administration’s immigration policies.
The buses that arrived late Saturday outside the vp’s residence were carrying around 110 to 130 people, based on Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, a relief agency working with the town of Washington to serve 1000’s of migrants who have been dropped off in recent months.
Local organizers had expected the buses to reach Sunday but came upon Saturday that the group would get to Washington early, Laborde said. The people on board included young children.
Some were wearing T-shirts despite temperatures hovering around 15 degrees Fahrenheit (-9 degrees Celsius). It was the coldest Christmas Eve on record for Washington, according to the Washington Post.
Laborde said employees had blankets ready for the individuals who arrived on Christmas Eve and moved them quickly onto waiting buses for a ride to an area church. An area restaurant chain donated dinner and breakfast.
A lot of the arrivals were headed to other destinations and expected to stay in Washington only briefly.
Gov. Greg Abbott’s office didn’t reply to a request for comment Sunday morning. His office said last week that Texas has given bus rides to greater than 15,000 people since April to Washington, Recent York, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, each Republicans, are strong critics of President Joe Biden on his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, where 1000’s of persons are attempting to cross each day, many to hunt asylum. Officials on either side of the border are searching for emergency assist in organising shelters and services for migrants, a few of whom are sleeping on the streets.
Republicans argue Biden and Harris, designated the administration’s point person on the foundation causes of migration, have relaxed restrictions that induced many individuals to go away their countries of origin. Biden has ended some policies but kept others enacted by former President Donald Trump, whose administration also grappled with spikes in border crossings and at one point separated immigrant families and youngsters as a deterrence initiative.
