Migrants left in the cold near Harris’
residence
Buses from Texas drop off families in D.C. on Christmas Eve.
Texas authorities have not confirmed their involvement, but the bus drop-offs are in line with previous actions by Republican governors in border states who want to call attention to the Biden administration’s immigration policies.
The buses that arrived late Saturday outside the vice president’s Washington residence were carrying 110 to 130 people, according to Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, a relief agency working with the city to serve the thousands of migrants who have been dropped off in recent months.
Local organizers had expected the buses to arrive Sunday but found out Saturday that the group, which included young children, would get to Washington early, Laborde said.
Some were wearing T-shirts in temperatures hovering around 15 degrees Fahrenheit. It was D.C.’s coldest Christmas Eve on record, according to the Washington Post.
Laborde said the people who arrived on Christmas Eve were met by employees, who gave them blankets and moved them quickly onto buses waiting to take them to an area church. A local restaurant chain donated dinner and breakfast.
Most of the arrivals were headed to other destinations and expected to remain in Washington only briefly.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office did not respond to a request for comment Sunday morning. His office said last week that since April, the state had given more than 15,000 people bus rides to Washington, New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.
Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, both Republicans, are strong critics of President Biden’s handling of the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, where thousands of people are trying to cross daily, many to seek asylum. Officials on both sides of the border are seeking emergency help in setting up shelters and services for migrants, some of whom are sleeping on streets.
Republicans argue that relaxed restrictions under Biden and Harris, designated the administration’s point person on the root causes of migration, have induced many people to leave their countries of origin. Biden has ended some Trump administration policies but kept others. Former President Trump also grappled with increasing border crossings, and at one point separated immigrant families and children to deter others from coming.
White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan called the bus drop-offs a “cruel, dangerous, and shameful stunt.”
“As we have repeatedly said, we are willing to work with anyone — Republican or Democrat alike — on real solutions, like the comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures President Biden sent to Congress on his first day in office,” Hasan said in a statement Sunday. “But these political games accomplish nothing and only put lives in danger.”
