Second Migrant Bus Arrives In Los Angeles From Texas

Another bus carrying 41 migrants arrived this afternoon in Los Angeles from the Texas-Mexico border.

The bus pulled into Union Station at 12:40 p.m. In a statement, Mayor Karen Bass says her office started to formulate a response after learning about the arrival.

“The Mayor’s Office became aware of the bus yesterday and mobilized -- working 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."

The L.A. Welcome Collective, a coalition that includes the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and several immigrant and human rights groups, was at Union Station to meet the migrants and help connect them with services and family members.

“We got a tip the night before. We activated our rapid response folks,” Jorge-Mario Cabrera of The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, a member of the humanitarian collective, told LAist.com.

“They have been meeting since October of last year on this eventuality. Today, paramedics were available as soon as they arrived," he said.

Cabrera said those migrants who have family members and loved ones residing in the city will stay in L.A. as they apply for asylum. The 41 migrants are from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Belize and Nicaragua. Cabrera said 11 of them are children.

It’s the second migrant bus sent to Los Angeles in a little over two weeks by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. He and his fellow Republican, Florida Gov. Ron De Santis, have bused or flown migrants from the border to Democratic-led states and cities. These have included migrants being sent to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, and being left in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’s home in freezing weather on Christmas Eve.