First bus carrying migrants arrives in D.C. under Abbott's order | The Texas Tribune
Category: News & Politics
Via: jeremy-in-nc • 3 years ago • 112 commentsBy: Andrew Zhang, James Barragan and Jason Beeferman (The Texas Tribune)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
About 30 people from Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua traveled to the U.S. capital as part of Gov. Greg Abbott's new plan in response to the end of Title 42.
by Andrew Zhang, James Barragan and Jason Beeferman April 13, 202215 hours ago
Copy linkRepublish A group of about 30 migrants arrived in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday after accepting an offer from the state of Texas to be taken there. Credit: Eric Lee for The Texas Tribune
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WASHINGTON — Sitting in the plaza in front of Union Station in Washington, D.C., with the U.S. Capitol behind her, Ordalis Heras, a 26-year-old Venezuelan asylum-seeker, tried to control her two young children while she waited to get transportation to New York.
Two months ago, Heras said she fled Venezuela with her husband and children to escape President Nicolas Maduro's regime. She crossed the border on Sunday through Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, and surrendered to U.S. immigration authorities in Del Rio.
On Tuesday, she took an offer from the state of Texas to be taken about 1,700 miles to Washington, D.C., for free. Now, a day later, she was about 200 miles away from her final destination.
"We are very thankful for all the help that has been given to us," Heras said in Spanish outside Union Station. "Frankly, we did not have the money to get here otherwise, so we are very thankful for the help."
Heras was one of about 30 people on the first bus transporting migrants from the Texas border to Washington, D.C., under a new plan unveiled by Gov. Greg Abbott last week. The governor said the order is in response to the Biden administration's decision to end Title 42, a pandemic-era emergency health order that allowed immigration authorities at the border to deny entry to migrants, even those seeking asylum.
When the health order goes away at the end of May, federal authorities expect as many as 18,000 migrants a day at the southern border. Abbott said last week that Texas would bus migrants to the nation's capital where the Biden administration could better deal with them.
The program is voluntary for migrants and must be requested by cities and counties, but the state pays for the buses.
"By busing migrants to Washington, D.C., the Biden Administration will be able to more immediately meet the needs of the people they are allowing to cross our border," Abbott said in a Wednesday morning statement. "Texas should not have to bear the burden of the Biden Administration's failure to secure our border."
Abbott's office has said transportation to the nation's capital would happen only after migrants detained at the border had been processed and released by the Department of Homeland Security. In addition to buses, Abbott also said the state could charter flights to transport migrants to the nation's capital. The migrants would have to show documentation that they had already been processed by DHS.
People from Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua made the journey from Texas' border to Capitol Hill on that first bus, the governor's office said, adding that another bus is already en route. Abbott's office has released few details of the cost and extent of the bus operations and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
The bus appeared to be operated by a North Carolina-based company called Elder Charters, according to a Fox News video of the bus' arrival to Washington. The company declined to comment Wednesday and directed questions to Texas state officials.
Heras' bus arrived Wednesday morning a few blocks away from the Capitol and Union Station, where the migrants, flanked by several volunteers with the Catholic Church, awaited transport to the next leg of their respective journeys. According to John Enzler, president and CEO of Catholic Charities and a volunteer with the migrants, most of the bus' passengers had family in the area and left immediately after arriving.
Through her journey, Heras said she and her family had been robbed, left penniless and left to sleep on the streets. But she said immigration officials in the U.S. treated them well, fed them and gave them documentation for future court hearings before transferring them to a church where they were offered a bus ride to Washington.
Enzler said he and other volunteers with his organization went to Union Station to assist the migrants after they heard of the bus arriving. A pamphlet from the charity that some of the migrants held said the organization could assist the migrants with applying for food stamps, finding employment, online vocational programs and English classes.
Heras said the bus trip took 30 hours, adding that they were also fed and well cared for by officials on the bus. From Washington, she said, the charity group will help her family get to New York, where she and her family plan to continue the asylum-seeking process. She does not have family there but she said she will stay with groups that help immigrants.
"From here on in, I think things will be better," she said. "I have hope that things will be better and that my children will have a better quality of life."
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They're the problem of DC now.
If they had not been allowed to cross the border in the first place this would not have happened
That's a definite yep.
Next stops, Baltimore, San Francisco, Chicago, and AOC’s apartment in NYC.
Get the extra towels out people. They’ll probably need a shower ......
And the vast majority will just disappear into the woodwork and shadows never to be seen by a USCIS judge.
And they're probably not vaxxed
They also broke the law, but the left wants them here. Period.
We already have enough American Citizens in need
So answer the question Charger ask you in 3.3.4 .
You don't need to rub it in Tessylo, everyone here knows that you're simply the best, better than all the rest. Better than anyone, anyone I've ever met. I'm stuck on your heart, I hang on every word you say.
It looks like the very wealthy, progressives in Maryland have turned their backs on the needy of Baltimore.
I noticed that along with a couple of other members.
Nothing get's by you.
I'm not a member of the gop and haven't alleged anything. The very wealthy state of Maryland is one of our Bluest.
I'm not a member of the gop and haven't alleged anything. The very wealthy state of Maryland is one of our Bluest.
I'm sure there are 13 sets of parents and/or loved ones that lost their sons and daughters on a black day in August of last year in Afghanistan and the huge number of civilians left behind that would disagree with you.
😭
Lol .... now that is funny ....
Actually, it's called comedy relief.
not healthy guys!
What’s unhealthy about learning from you, Tess?
Then move along.
And who are you talking to? You need to check who you are replying to and act accordingly.
That comment speaks for itself.
As bad as it would be, one would hope it’s just a troll but unfortunately I think it’s much worse than that.
I think she really believes it ......
I think that to make an impressive achievement or an outstanding contribution requires a certain level of obsessiveness. I get excited thinking about what I might achieve after learning from you. I'm grateful that you are here.
It is. You're responding to yourself. You need to check who you are replying to and act accordingly.
That's not "one mistake". You do it pretty regularly to avoid tickets.
What have you done for the American citizens in need in Baltimore?
Certainly, you have not turned your back on them, have you?
How many homeless in Baltimore have you taken into your home with free food and lodging?
JFC - quit answering the trolling and maybe she'll go away.
I've told her before that if I bother her so much, she is more than welcome to put me on ignore, but she seems not to want to.
No way..
Some on here thrive on trolling.
To some, it is like a narcotic.