Migrants sent to destination far away get only cold cheer

WASHINGTON — Three buses of recent migrant families arrived from Texas near the home of US Vice-President Kamala Harris in record-setting cold on Christmas Eve.

The buses that arrived were carrying about 110 to 130 people, including women and children, said Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, a relief agency working with the city of Washington to serve thousands of migrants who have been dropped off in recent months.

Some of the migrants were wearing T-shirts despite temperatures of about — 9 C and were given blankets before being transferred to a local church.

The arrivals included asylumseekers from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela, a volunteer told CNN.

Immigration activists said the insensitivity of what happened was borne out by the freezing temperatures in Washington as the country continued to feel the impact of a powerful winter storm this Christmas holiday.

Local organizers had expected the buses to arrive on Sunday but found out on Saturday that the group would get to Washington early, Laborde said.

Employees had blankets ready for those who arrived on Christmas Eve and moved them quickly onto waiting buses for a ride to an area church, she said. A local restaurant chain donated dinner and breakfast.

Over the past week nine busloads of migrants have been dropped off in Washington, Laborde said.

"Lately what we've been seeing is an increase in people from Ecuador and Colombia," Laborde said. Previously, many Venezuelans had arrived by bus, she added.

Texas authorities have not confirmed their involvement, but the bus drop-offs were in line with previous actions by border-state governors calling attention to the Joe Biden administration's immigration policies.

The White House lashed out at Texas Governor Greg Abbott, one of at least three Republicans who have been sending migrants to cities led by Democrats to protest against the administration's immigration policies, calling the latest transfer a "cruel, dangerous, and shameful stunt".

"Governor Abbott abandoned children on the side of the road in below-freezing temperatures on Christmas Eve without coordinating with any federal or local authorities," White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan 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, but these political games accomplish nothing and only put lives in danger."

Abbott had previously accused Biden and Harris of "ignoring and denying the historic crisis at our southern border".

Aggressive action

Abbott's office said this year that the Texas government is "taking aggressive action to aid border communities", including busing thousands of migrants to Washington, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia.

Last week the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court not to lift pandemic-era restrictions on asylum-seekers before the holiday weekend. A lower court had already granted the administration's request to have until Dec 21 before removing the restrictions, known as Title 42. The restrictions have been used more than 2.5 million times to expel asylum-seekers who crossed into the US illegally and to turn away most of those requesting asylum at the border. It is unclear when the court will decide.

At the southern border asylumseekers stuck at shelters also found themselves with little to celebrate for Christmas. Tens of thousands of migrants were spending Christmas in crowded shelters or on the streets of border towns.

In El Paso, Texas, desperate migrants who had crossed from Mexico huddled for warmth in churches, schools and a civic center, Rosa Falcon, a school teacher and volunteer said. But some still chose to stay outside in frigid temperatures because they feared attention from immigration authorities, she said.

At one such encampment, El Paso resident Daniel Morgan, 25, showed up last week in a Santa hat and a green sweater featuring bows and little stockings that he hoped "would spread a smile".

Agencies - Xinhua