Several crowded buses left migrants in front of the residence of the vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris, in Washington, on Christmas Eve, in a temperature of -7 ° C late on Saturday (24).
Initially, two buses went to local shelters, according to a government official. More buses arrived outside the vice president’s residence late Saturday night. A team from CNN saw the migrants being dropped off, some wearing only T-shirts in the frigid weather. They were given blankets and put on another bus going to a local church.
Amy Fischer, a volunteer with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, which has been receiving migrants sent to Washington since the fall, said the organization was prepared for Saturday night arrivals, having been informed earlier by an NGO working on the Texas border.
The arrivals included asylum seekers from Ecuador, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Peru and Colombia, according to Fischer, who told CNN that buses were supposed to go to New York but were diverted to Washington due to weather. Busloads of migrants have arrived in Washington weekly since April.
SAMU First Response, a non-profit organization that has been helping migrants since buses began arriving in Washington earlier this year, was also on site Saturday night helping with arrivals.
“The DC community has been receiving buses from Texas whenever they come since April. Christmas Eve and the freezing cold are no different,” said Fischer. “We are always here welcoming people with open arms.”
It is not clear who is responsible for sending the migrants to the Naval Observatory, where the vice president’s residence is located, although the CNN reported earlier this year that Texas Governor Greg Abbott had sent buses of migrants north, including in front of Harris’ home. THE CNN contacted the Abbott office for comment on the latest arrivals.
The White House, however, placed the blame on the Texas governor, calling the episode a “cruel, dangerous and shameful trick”.
“Governor Abbott abandoned children on the side of the road in sub-zero temperatures on Christmas Eve without coordination with any federal or local authorities,” White House spokesman Abdullah Hasan said in a statement.
“As we’ve said repeatedly, we’re willing to work with anyone — Republican or Democrat — on real solutions, like the comprehensive immigration reform and border security measures that President Biden sent to Congress on his first day in office, but these Political games accomplish nothing and only endanger lives,” Hasan said.
Abbott is one of at least three Republican governors who have taken credit for busing migrants north this year to protest the Biden administration’s immigration policies. He previously confirmed in September that his state had sent buses to the Harris residence at that time.
Source: CNN Brasil
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