7th migrant bus arrives in Los Angeles from Texas

LOS ANGELES - Another bus full of asylum-seekers arrived at Union Station on Friday, August 4 just after noon from Texas, according to Mayor Karen Bass' team. This is the seventh migrant bus from the state to reach Los Angeles.

"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," said Spokesperson for Bass, Zach Seidl.

The bus carried 49 migrants, 17 of which were children, from Brownsville, Texas. Upon arrival at Union Station, migrants were transported to the receiving center at nearby St. Anthony's Croatian Church, where they met staff with food, water, clothing and legal immigration orientations, according to reports. 

In June of this year, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a motion directing the city to draft a "Sanctuary City" ordinance that would protect asylum-seekers and provide them with resources.

"Los Angeles continues to open its heart and work collectively to give asylum seekers the refuge they deserve," said Angelica Salas, executive director for The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) in a statement. "Our work is to help them find protection and a better life in the U.S., their new home."

The migrants' countries of origin included Brazil, Cameroon, China, Columbia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico and Venezuela, according to CHIRLA.

According to Salas, the migrants will "leave behind the suffering and any use of their plight for political agendas."

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Migrants with loved ones in L.A. will reunite immediately, while others will be assisted with travel plans until they reach their final destination.

To date, nearly 300 asylum-seekers have arrived in L.A since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began orchestrating shipments of migrants from Texas to California in June 2023. He claimed the state's border region is overwhelmed by immigrants crossing the Mexican border.

"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," said Abbott said in a statement after the first bus arrived in L.A. "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."