Texas is continuing to send busloads of migrants from Texas to downtown Los Angeles, and on Tuesday, just after 9 a.m., the 14th bus from the state arrived at Union Station, according to the LA Mayor’s office.
The Coalition for Human Immigrants Rights released a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, confirming that 40 asylum seekers from El Salvador and Venezuela were on the bus.
In total, there were 12 families onboard and 14 children, the group shared.
“We focus on people, not drama or politics,” the statement said. “Together, the city, county, and nonprofits will continue to coordinate and support each other until our new neighbors feel they have an opportunity to start again.”
According to city officials, more than 500 migrants have been bussed from Texas to Los Angeles since June of this year.
The bussing is part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) “Operation Lone Star” joint program. Abbott started the operation with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military after claiming the Texas border region was “overwhelmed” with migrants crossing over from Mexico.
LA declared itself as a sanctuary city in June after a move by LA Mayor Karen Bass. After doing so, Abbott began sending buses to the city.
“Los Angeles is a major city that migrants seek to go to,” Abbott said in a statement.“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.”
However, Bass has said that the Texas governor and his office are not working with her team to give information about the buses before their arrival.
Bass says they don’t know when buses will arrive, the number of migrants onboard, or if they’ve been given food or water. She has said if Abbott’s concerns were sincere, then “someone in the government and Texa would notify us and coordinate with us.”
So far, “Operation Lone Star” has seen over 33,000 migrants bused to “sanctuary cities” across the country.