PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two more buses transporting dozens of asylum seekers from Texas arrived in Philadelphia on Friday morning.
Philadelphia officials confirmed that two buses, carrying approximately 71 people between them arrived Friday morning at 30th Street Station. The first bus arrived around 6:15 a.m. and the second bus arrived around 9:30 a.m.
The city transported 49 passengers to a welcome facility on East Luzerne Street in North Philadelphia. There, family members were able to meet and pick up their loved ones as they arrived.
Many of the people arriving are from Colombia, Cuba, Panama, Peru, Nicaragua, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic, according to the city. And all have been fully screened by Customs and Border Patrol before arriving in Philadelphia.
“A lot of the folks on the bus — I think this is really important for folks to know — these are folks who have reached the legal definition of asylum,” said Erica Guadalupe Nunez with community nonprofit Juntos. “Many of them have been traveling for months — two months is what we're hearing is the most common time frame."
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Juntos is one of about 15 organizations across the city coordinating with Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management and Office of Immigrant Affairs to help situate asylum seekers with clothing, transportation, emergency health screenings and temporary housing.
The group has been meeting since August to prepare for the eventual arrival of these and other migrants from southern states. These are the third and fourth buses to arrive in Philadelphia carrying migrants sent from Texas.
As with passengers on the first two buses to arrive, these passengers were given food, water, clothing and a place to stay temporarily.
Emilio Buitrago with Lafayette Hill-based nonprofit Casa de Venezuela says they had been expecting more buses to come since the first two arrived in recent weeks.
"We know that the governor of Texas had Philadelphia on the list of cities, along with Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C. So, we were expecting more buses to come,” he said.
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Many of the asylum seekers as are expected to go to other areas such as New Jersey and New York to meet with family members as Philadelphia may not be their final stop.
The city does not have any specific information about the people on board the two buses that arrived Friday, nor does anyone know if other buses should be expected, said Kevin Lessard, the city’s communications director.
“Texas officials have not coordinated with the city, despite a direct request from Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management to do so,” said Lessard.
As with the two prior buses, there was no advance notification from Texas officials, a fact which has irritated Mayor Jim Kenny.
"Pick up the phone,” said Kenney. “You have the Emergency Management Office in Texas. You have the Emergency Management Office in Philly. You call and say, ‘This is what the governor wants us to do. We're giving you a heads up. We're sending a group … we're sending one bus … we're sending two buses.’"
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s administration began sending asylum seekers to Philadelphia in November.
Stay with KYW Newsradio for more as this story develops.