LOS ANGELES (AP) — A group of migrants who arrived by bus in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday were sent from Texas in a move the city’s mayor called a “despicable stunt” by a Republican governor.
Forty-two people, including some children, were dropped off at Union Station around 4 p.m. and were being cared for by city agencies and charitable organizations, Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León’s office said. Their country of origin wasn’t immediately known.
Mayor Karen Bass said she had instructed city departments to prepare to accept migrants from out of state, after GOP governors began sending asylum-seekers to Democratic states in recent months.
“This did not catch us off guard, nor will it intimidate us,” Bass said in a statement. “Los Angeles is not a city motivated by hate or fear and we absolutely will not be swayed or moved by petty politicians playing with human lives.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the migrants were sent to Los Angeles because California had declared itself a “sanctuary” for immigrants, extending protections to people living in the country illegally and allowing them to apply for some state benefits.
“Our border communities are on the frontlines 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,” Abbott said in a statement.
Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis flew groups of migrants from border states to Sacramento, California, at taxpayer expense. Last fall, Florida flew 49 Venezuelans to the upscale Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard.
The migrants in Los Angeles were receiving help at St. Anthony’s Croatian Catholic Church near downtown. The Los Angeles Fire Department said shortly after 5 p.m. that it received a “medical need” request for a number of people at the church. Those people’s medical condition was not immediately known.
