Criminal charges possible for Texas officials after busing migrants to CA, AG Bonta says
Southern California agencies and nonprofits have stepped in to assist the 42 migrants bused here from Texas as state officials say criminal charges will be investigated in the case.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Southern California agencies and nonprofits have stepped in to help the 42 migrants -- 10 of whom are minors -- who arrived in L.A. from Texas on Wednesday as state officials say criminal charges will be investigated in the case.
The bus of migrants dropped them off at Union Station before being taken to St. Anthony's Croatian Catholic Church in Chinatown, where they were greeted by city agencies, non profits and advocates ready to help. Officials say the migrants did not sleep at the church, and spent the night either with family members or at a shelter.
"And the ones that don't often, that don't have family, are the ones I would say (have) tougher situations because they can be taken advantage of," said Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who represents the district that took in the migrants.
Officials are now helping the migrants -- who are mainly from Venezuela, Honduras and Guatemala -- in their process of seeking asylum in the United States by informing them of their rights.
ABC7 has learned some of the migrants are toddlers, and at least 10 of the 42 migrants are minors. Another is a nursing mother.
The Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights -- who helped assist the migrants upon their arrival in L.A. -- believes the migrants weren't provided food or drinks on the 23-hour long bus ride. Some of the migrants also have court dates planned in another state.
"That's like any one of us who would be breastfeeding our own child, except that this mother had walked two months and a half before arriving at the border and being allowed by the United States to enter because she has credible fear," said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, the director of communications at CHIRLA.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the "first bus" of migrants from his state had arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday because "our overwhelmed border towns are on the frontlines of President Biden's border crisis and need relief. Texas will bus migrants to sanctuary cities like LA until he secures the border."
Earlier this month, the state of Florida under the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis transferred migrants from Texas to Sacramento. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta said they were looking into criminal charges in that case, including kidnapping.
Bonta says the state will now look into Texas' busing of migrants as well.
"The legality question is an open one. We will go wherever the facts and the law take us. The moral question is clear. This was a morally bankrupt act, period, full stop, end of story," said Bonta.
Gomez said he is also calling for a criminal investigation.
"The question is who's paying for these busses, number one. Number two, if they're doing this at the direction of the state of Texas. And number three, what did they tell these migrants?" said Gomez.
Many other city and state leaders have also criticized Abbott, including L.A. City Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, who said Texas' governor is busing the migrants to distract from his policies.
"Greg Abbott is doing this to distract his own people from his own failure. I think he should be spending more time trying to fix the electrical grid than trying to be more racist than other Republican governors," said Soto-Martinez.
And L.A. Mayor Karen Bass condemned Abbott's actions on Wednesday, and said the move did not catch her office off-guard.
"This did not catch us off guard, nor will it intimidate us. L.A. 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," Bass said in a statement.
Meanwhile, while some city residents feel sorry for the migrants, they say now is not the time for their arrival.
"With other people coming in from different places, it takes from us. So, I feel like we need to take care of our own people that's here already because then the government starts giving them free stuff and it comes out of our pocket," said Yolanda. "We can't handle it, this country can't handle that right now, we can't. We're barely making it as a country as well."
But many people feel the need to help the migrants due to their situations in the countries they came from.
"When I see these families, I see myself I see my, my daughter, I see my own family, and we want to make sure that we treat them how we would want to be treated," said Martha Arévalo, the executive director of the Central American Resource Center.
"I can tell you that when we have asylum seekers who are at the border, and are coming to the United States, they are coming with such hope for the safety and the protection that they are going to find here," said Lindsay Toczylowski, the co-founder and executive director of the Immigrant Defenders Law Society.
Source: KABC-TV
